Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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455. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average length of time that school principals are waiting for direct contact from the HSE following a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the school since schools reopened for the 2021-2022 school year. [44192/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE has a well-established protocol in place to support schools where there is a confirmed case of Covid-19 connected with a school.  HSE Schools Teams are in place, supported by over 100 Department of Education staff to support schools to deal with cases of Covid-19. There were some delays in making contact with schools in the first days after reopening but the backlog of cases have been cleared and the HSE school teams are working hard to respond to all the cases in a timely manner. The HSE has also reorganised the administration component of the work to ensure the teams can focus on the clinical aspects of the work. 

The Department will continue to work with the HSE public health to support schools dealing with Covid-19.

Questions in relation to the operation of HSE support should be directed to the Department of Health.