Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 July 2021
17. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide greater clarity on the opening of further and higher education campuses in September 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36775/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe are looking for clarity on the opening up. There has been a change with the vaccine roll-out. We have the worries about the Delta variant and such. What plans are in place for the necessary due diligence to ensure we have the opening that students deserve following the difficulties they have had?
I thank the Deputy for this important question. The Government has worked intensively with representatives of staff, students and the management of institutions, as well as the Chief Medical Officer, to devise and publish a plan that shows how we will get our students safely back to college campuses, whether in further or higher education. We have said what people can expect at a minimum. I outlined to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, the concept of treating a college in the same way a town or village would be treated. What is safe to do in a town or village needs to be safe to do on a college campus. We have also said that at a maximum, we will get the large-scale lectures back, and that we will make a call on that based on the prevailing public health situation in a couple of weeks.
The Deputy referred to vaccination and that is the key. We believe in and know that the vaccines work. Our Chief Medical Officer has said that when people are vaccinated, they should be able to get on with their lives. We are planning to have all adults vaccinated by the end of August, according to the CEO of the HSE. That should provide great assistance in ensuring additional safety. The Deputy will be aware that while some people are debating, talking about and thinking about rolling out rapid testing, we have got on and done it in the higher education sector. We are rolling out an extensive pilot with thousands of students and staff being invited to take part every week. This may be an additional tool. I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of it but it makes sense to look into it. Towards the end of summer, we will be able to decide if we can roll it out further. I will report to the Cabinet with an update on 19 July. That will hopefully provide the further clarity that the institutions will need to get on with the process of issuing individual timetables for students. I am sure the Deputy is looking forward to Dundalk Institute of Technology and such colleges seeing students back on campus.
A number of students have contacted me about that. We all accept the difficulties that everybody has been through. To put it mildly, this period has been a surreal experience for anybody in third level education.
I welcome that we will probably be looking at clarity regarding this situation on 19 July.
I also welcome the work being done to roll out antigen testing and the pilot project. Can the Minister outline any detail regarding the timeline for that pilot, the numbers involved and how the project stands now? I ask that because antigen testing is something we see as a tool for potential use across wider society. It should probably have been instigated earlier, if only from the perspective of providing the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, with the documentary evidence he says does not exist now.
I fully agree that there has been far too much faffing around regarding antigen testing. As the Minister with responsibility for research and science, I would say that. We need to try everything possible to get people's lives back on track. Roughly speaking, and going on my memory, four institutions - Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, National University of Ireland Galway and University College Cork - are leading on this pilot project. An opportunity to partake will be given to 8,000 staff and students who have been good enough to do so. Some of those involved will be tested randomly, while many will be tested twice a week in a structured way with at least two different tests.
As we come towards the end of the summer, that will then give us an indication of what it may be possible to learn from that project. We can then offer that information to broader society and to other sectors. I welcome the work being done by my colleague the Minister for Health in respect of his expert group yesterday. If there is found to be a benefit, I will examine rolling out antigen testing more widely across the sector. I thank Dr. Breda Smyth, Professor Paddy Mallon, Professor Kingston Mills, Dr. Mary Horgan and many others who have been leading this project for us. It is well under way now.
