Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 November 2021
104. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the role the HSE and school specific public health teams will play in schools given the new announcements that place an onus on the principal to complete contact tracing. [57868/21]
View answerThe HSE’s Public Health teams will continue to provide support to schools should it be required and testing will remain available more broadly to children should it be required on public health or clinical grounds or following a Public Health Risk Assessment. The HSE’s Public Health teams continue to prioritise high-risk settings and vulnerable groups such as special schools and special classes.
In relation to the programme in which antigen tests will be made available to children in primary schools announced last week, school principals will not be required to gather evidence of participation or of any antigen test results. School principals on receiving confirmation from a parent of a confirmed case following a PCR test will notify other parents of children in a pod so that they can order antigen tests directly from the HSE. Where two or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 occur in a class, within a seven-day period, outside of a single pod, antigen testing will be offered to the full class.
