Primary school staffing and ventilation
Deputy Gannon raised substitute teacher shortages and inadequate CO2 monitor coverage in primary schools, later asking about air filtration devices. The Taoiseach said reopening had worked well, public health advice was guiding schools, and CO2 monitors were there to help assess ventilation.
I have a minute but in that time I will list some of the very serious issues facing our primary schools. There is a substitute teacher crisis taking place, one the Department of Education has denied and worsened by lack of action. More than 650 primary schools are not covered in the primary schools substitute teacher supply panels.
There are school principals on Twitter looking for substitute teachers at the moment. Primary schools only received a fraction of the CO2 monitors required, relative to the number of classrooms and, scandalously, ASD classrooms were excluded from the calculations. There has been no advice to schools on antigen testing. Air filtration devices are not available unless schools are willing to pay for them. Clean air inequality now exists in our classrooms. On top of all of that, pupils are in the most overcrowded classrooms in the EU. Will the Government revert to the testing and tracing system that was in place in September because what is happening now is not working? Will the Department supply air filtration devices to primary schools as a form of effective mitigation?
Comment on this
I spoke to the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, during the week about the reopening of schools and he is of the belief that it has worked well. There is a very close relationship between public health and education providers and there has been since the beginning. A specific advisory team has been advising the education sector in respect of the reopening of schools and the return of children to school. By and large, over time, its advice has been effective and well placed. Sometimes I have seen unions disagree with that advice and call for this, that and the other but public health advice must be the anchor for everything we do in the context of a global pandemic. Politicians cannot make it up as they go along either. There is a tendency to listen to the first group that comes to us, trot out what they have said and suggest that is the solution. There must be some degree of consistency in approach and public health has to be at the centre of it. It can be frustrating at times and I accept Deputy Gannon's point-----
Comment on this
What about air filtration devices?