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Covid-19 Pandemic

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020

Tuesday, 1 December 2020

Questions (30)

Francis Noel Duffy

Question:

30. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Education the measures in place to ensure adequate heating and ventilation in view of Covid-19 guidelines in schools temporarily accommodated in prefabs. [39982/20]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

I thank the Minister for taking my question. What measures are in place to ensure adequate heating and ventilation in schools temporarily accommodated in prefabs in view of Covid-19 guidelines? Schools are doing their best to ensure students are in the safest environment possible. As advised by the Department, teachers are encouraged to keep windows and doors open to allow for ventilation. However, without adequate heating infrastructure, this often means teachers and schoolchildren are left extremely cold.

Practical steps for the deployment of good ventilation practices were provided to schools in August in the context of reopening for September 2020. This guidance has recently been reviewed and was circulated to the education partners for their feedback. The updated guidance has now been published.

As for good ventilation practices in schools, it is important, particularly as we get further into winter, that we achieve an appropriate balance between good ventilation and comfort in schools. The overall approach for schools should be to have windows open as fully as possible when classrooms are not in use - for example, during break times, lunchtimes and at the end of each school day - and partially open when classrooms are in use to achieve appropriate airflow. It is worth noting that windows do not need to be open as wide in windy or cold weather in order to achieve the same level of airflow into the classroom. This will assist in managing comfort levels in classrooms, including in prefabricated accommodation, during periods of colder weather.

As part of managing comfort levels in classrooms, schools should check that their heating systems are set according to the recommended manufacturer's guidance levels to maximise the available heat to the school. In addition, heating should operate for extended periods during colder weather to counteract as best as possible the impact of windows being open - partially when classrooms are in use and fully when not in use - in order to maintain an appropriate balance between ventilation and comfort levels.

The issue of capacity and availability of resources to accommodate students comfortably brings me to my next point about the broader challenges schools have faced adapting to Covid-19 guidelines. Some schools have had to undertake significant remedial works in a short amount of time using the limited minor works funding and are still struggling to accommodate students in appropriate teaching environments. Can the Department advise whether minor works grants will be available next summer to conduct works outside of Covid-19, whereby the minor works grant can be used for typical summer projects that normally use this funding? The minor works funding is primarily there to allow schools to maintain their buildings. Covid-19 will mean that schools have effectively lost this funding for two years.

The minor works grant has been paid twice this year into schools. It was paid in August and will be paid again in December. It gives schools the autonomy to do what needs to be done or whatever they might specifically identify within the school that requires work. This can be a very wide capacity of work. It can be limited to one area or can be finance that is disbursed into a variety of projects within the school. That is a very positive movement for schools, and the uptake of it has been exceptional and has been greeted very positively by schools. Of course, if there are other works to be done, there is also the emergency works scheme and the summer works scheme, but to date there has been no question of funding not being made available to schools for work that needs to be done.

Unfortunately, for many schools the minor works grant does not allow them to adequately accommodate schoolchildren in adherence to Covid-19 guidelines. Many schools have had to undertake significant structural changes to ensure that students arrive to a safe environment. I have witnessed this. Will the Department support schools, particularly DEIS schools, in undertaking significant remedial works necessary to accommodate students safely in cases in which the minor works grant is not enough? This is having an impact on Sacred Heart Senior National School in Killinarden, as I am sure it is in other DEIS schools across the country.

Regarding the minor works grants, we are talking about an allocation of €75 million in August and €15 million now in December. A school with 1,000 pupils, for example, would have received €110,000 in the first tranche last August.

There is substantial funding going into schools. As I stated, more funding is to come in December. However, I will take the details of the specific case raised by the Deputy. Obviously, where there are other extraordinary measures we ask schools to revert to the Department in order that we can consider individual cases. I wish to be clear that there has been a general acceptance without contradiction that the amount of money - now in excess of €500 million - that has been provided to schools for a variety of works, such as minor works, provision of payment for PPE or whatever else is required in the schools, has been quite remarkable.

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