Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
920. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Education if she has risk assessed the impact on health in particular of children of Covid-19- related cleaning, disinfecting, fogging and sanitising procedures in schools; if so, if that risk assessment will be made available; if these procedures will continue once schools reopen in autumn 2021 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40299/21]
View answer921. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Education if schoolchildren will be subjected to invasive procedures such as mask wearing, antigen or other testing or procedures (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40301/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 920 and 921 together.
The aim of all of the Covid-19 infection prevention and control measures that have been put in place for schools is to support schools to operate safely and prevent the introduction of Covid-19 and also the onward of transmission of Covid-19 among the school community. There is clear evidence from the operation of schools during the past year that schools are low risk environments in terms of the transmission of COVID-19 and that the infection prevention and control measures in place are highly effective in reducing the risk of contracting COVID-19. These measures protect pupils, their parents and school staff.
The infection prevention and control advice for schools is provided by specialists from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). The advice for the safe operation of schools balances the need for a practical and sensible level of caution with the need to provide a supportive environment for students and where staff feel safe and able to engage with students in a way that supports their learning.
Control measures to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19 in schools are critically important to sustain the safe operation of schools. The Work Safely Protocol and the HPSC advice for schools sets out the cleaning requirements for general cleaning and the enhanced cleaning in the event of a COVID-19 case. The specific advice in relation to school cleaning is set out in the HPSC advice. That report is available here .
Current public health advice makes it a requirement for face coverings to be worn by teachers, staff in schools and students attending post primary school. It is not a requirement for children attending primary school to wear face-coverings. It is accepted from a public health perspective that there are certain limited circumstances where someone is exempt from wearing face covering. The advice of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on the use of face coverings in educational settings is available here .
The Department will continue to work with the public health specialists regarding the infection prevention and control measures necessary in schools for the 2021/2022 academic year and implement as appropriate any changes necessary to support the safe operation of schools in line with any changes to public health advice to manage the spread of COVID-19 during the course of the 2021/2022 academic year.
The approach to reopening in the new academic year remains the same in that one of the key messages to manage the risks of COVID-19 in school is to do everything practical to avoid the introduction of COVID-19 into the school. If infection is not introduced it cannot be spread. In this regard significant emphasis has been placed consistently on the message to staff, students and the whole school community to ‘stay at home if you are not well'.
The overriding objective of these plans for the safe operation of schools continues to be to protect the health and wellbeing of staff and students while safeguarding the educational and developmental needs of the nation’s children.
