This morning on radio, the Minister for Education suggested to parents that they should not organise play dates or birthday parties. This is in important information to get to parents. The reaction in my emails and phone calls so far is about the question of schools more broadly. There is a concern about where this will go. Parents are seriously concerned. They are already juggling so much. Will the Taoiseach take this opportunity to set out the information he has to provide certainty or clarity? Stopping birthday parties and play dates is a natural thing to do now. How parents are interpreting this is that Covid is going in a direction that may threaten schools.

Can the Taoiseach set out the rationale behind the distinction between those things for parents as it would be helpful?

The overall public health message is to reduce socialisation more generally in society and not in any specific way. We can all give instances when one is questioned about hundreds of different types of events and so on. The bottom line from the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, and NPHET is to reduce socialisation. Some hundreds of thousands of people under the modelling could get Covid-19 in the next month, in December, but they have not got it yet, so it can be avoided. If we can avoid substantial numbers getting Covid-19 in December we will make huge progress.

On schools, the consistent messaging in public health is that schools are safe in respect of Covid-19. We have also been told by public health that respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, and non-Covid-19 respiratory illnesses have been the biggest challenge for paediatric services this year and I gave figures on that yesterday but it does not get the same public attention at all.