Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
719. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if personal protective equipment, PPE, will be provided for staff; and if a special needs assistant, SNA, or staff member has grounds to refuse to stay in the building if certain PPE is not available on a particular day due to delivery delay or a funding issue. [20811/20]
View answerThe Department of Education is working to put in place a framework of suppliers to provide the necessary PPE for schools and other Education Sector bodies and institutions. The primary focus of this procurement is to allow for the full and safe reopening of all schools. This is an active procurement which is intended will provide for the PPE necessary to support the reopening and will be capable of being scaled up and down as required to meet changes in demand.
It is intended that the framework will be available for drawdown from early August which will allow schools sufficient time to secure the PPE necessary for the safe reopening of schools. The Department will also provide guidelines on the usage of PPE. The funding to support this will also be available in schools in advance of reopening so it is not anticipated that school staff will be unable to open due to the non-availability of PPE.
