Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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524. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the wearing of masks and antigen testing will be brought into primary schools for children and teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13065/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has always been guided by public health advice in relation to the infection prevention and control measure appropriate for schools. While current public health advice makes it a requirement for face coverings to be worn by teachers, non-teaching staff in primary and post primary schools and students attending post primary school, it is not a requirement for children attending primary school to wear face-coverings.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) keep infection prevention and control measures under review in all sectors and have recently confirmed that the wearing of masks by primary school students is not being recommended at this time.

The current position of the HSE is that serial antigen testing is not recommended as a public health measure to keep schools safe. The HSE will continue to use the more accurate PCR tests for testing all index cases and close contacts within the school community and will prioritise the mass swift queue PCR testing which has proven highly effective to date.

This position is being kept under review by the HSE and an expert group is in place examining the use of antigen testing in schools and in other workplaces.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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525. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all teachers, particularly those with medical conditions and those who are pregnant, will be issued with standard medical masks in line with those being provided to special needs assistants, SNAs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13066/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has always been guided by public health advice in relation to the infection prevention and control measure appropriate for schools. At present it is a requirement for face coverings to be worn by teachers, staff in schools and students attending post primary school.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has published advice on the use of face coverings in educational settings and is available here. Revised HPSC guidelines for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) published on 7 January 2021 recommended surgical grade masks for all SNAs.

As part of the risk mitigation measures in schools outlined in the ‘Framework Plan for phased return of primary school education’, my Department has also confirmed that medical grade masks should also be provided for all teachers and SNAs in special schools and special classes and those staff by necessity that need to be in close and continued proximity with pupils with intimate care needs including School Bus Escorts. Schools may access the current PPE framework to procure supplies of medical grade masks.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) keeps infection prevention and control measures, which include the wearing of masks under review on an ongoing basis.

The general principles to apply to the management of COVID-19 includes the safety and welfare of teachers and other school staff and the minimisation of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning. The current COVID-19 arrangements in place for teachers are outlined in my Department’s Circular Letter 0049/2020.

The HSE has recently published guidance for the education sector in respect of pregnant employees and my Department is currently seeking clarifications from the HSE on this guidance. In the meantime, a pregnant teacher should temporarily continue to work remotely i.e. working from home.

The temporary arrangements for teachers during the partial re-opening period are outlined in my Department’s for primary teachers and Information Note TC 0007/2021 for post primary teachers. On the full re-opening of primary schools due to take place on 15^thMarch, Information Note TC 0010/2021 for primary teachers SNAs will apply.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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526. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the consideration she has given to ensuring that pregnant teaching staff are treated in a manner similar to HSE staff, particularly those who are over 35 years of age with a high body mass index, BMI, being considered as very high-risk for Covid-19, in the interest of parity across the employment categories; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13067/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The general principles to apply to the management of COVID-19 includes the safety and welfare of teachers and other school staff and the minimisation of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning. The current COVID-19 arrangements in place for teachers are outlined in my Department’s .

The HSE has recently published guidance for the education sector in respect of pregnant employees and my Department is currently seeking clarifications from the HSE on this guidance. In the meantime, a pregnant teacher should temporarily continue to work remotely i.e. working from home.

The temporary arrangements for teachers during the partial re-opening period are outlined in my Department’s for primary teachers and for post primary teachers. On the full re-opening of primary schools due to take place on 15^thMarch, for primary teachers SNAs will apply.

My Department has an enhanced Occupational Health Service (OHS) in place, to provide employers with occupational health advice in relation to teacher’s fitness for work. The current OHS provider has a process in place for school staff with health concerns about their risk of serious illness from contracting COVID-19, through workplace attendance.

A detailed on-line questionnaire is submitted by the teacher to the OHS, along with detailed medical evidence to provide clarity with respect to the medical complaint(s) in question. All of this information is reviewed by the OHS specialist occupational health physician, including the combined and cumulative risk that can arise when a teacher suffers from more than one health condition. The risk categorisation is comprehensive and follows the same process that is being applied across other sectors. A teacher is categorised into one of three COVID-19 risk categories. These are ‘Normal Risk’, High Risk’, and ‘Very High Risk’. The outcome of the risk categorisation is governed by the latest HSE guidance.My Department is following the same guidance that is in use across the public sector. The latest HSE guidance on the ‘very high risk’ group is at: .

Where a teacher considers the OHS "Covid-19 Health Risk Categorisation report" places him/her in an incorrect risk category, he/she may request review. The teacher may provide additional medical evidence as part of the review process.

Based on HSE advice, a teacher categorised by the OHS as ‘Very High Risk’ must not attend the workplace. However he/she remains available for work and the employer should prioritise alternative working arrangements to the maximum extent possible e.g. working from home.

The employer has a responsibility to assess the school environment using the COVID-19 Response Plan for the school, to ensure that all the appropriate HSE recommendations for safe school operations during Covid-19 are being implemented in full.

During the current period of partial re-opening of primary and post primary schools, an employer should temporarily facilitate more flexible working arrangements where a teacher has been categorised by the OHS as ‘High Risk’. A teacher who is over 60 years of age should also be temporarily facilitated by these arrangements. This may include re-assignment of a teacher to other duties within the school or facilitated to work remotely i.e. working from home. When schools fully re-open, these flexible working arrangements will no longer be available and therefore a teacher in the ‘High Risk’ group who is medically fit for work must return to the workplace.