Gary Gannon
Ceist:266. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education the estimated cost of providing every classroom in Ireland with a CO2 monitor. [47450/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 30 September 2021
Ceisteanna (266)
Freagraí scríofa
Managing ventilation is just one of a suite of public health measures in place to keep our schools safe. Updated guidance for schools on Practical Steps for the Deployment of Good Ventilation Practices in Schools was provided at the end of May following the work of an expert group that carefully considered the role of ventilation in managing COVID-19.
A copy of the guidance is published on the Gov.ie website.
This report formed the based for the most recent updating of the ventilation guidance for schools and included recommendations in relation to strengthening the message about the importance of good ventilation and the use of CO2 monitors.
The use of CO2 monitors can provide a useful general indication that areas/rooms within a building may not be adequately ventilated and can enable occupants to become familiar with the impact that activities, outdoor weather and window openings have on levels of good ventilation within a room. This information can be used to inform strategies for improving ventilation and in that regard my Department has funded the provision of a number of portable CO2 monitors for schools at an estimated overall cost of circa €4 million.
The monitors are portable, simple to use, and will give a digital reading. The portability of monitors is important as it provides good flexibility to focus their use to those rooms where most beneficial to inform strategies for optimising ventilation in the school.