Childcare Covid protections
Deputy Tóibín says childcare and early learning workers face delays for PCR tests, lack contact tracing, and are paying high antigen-test prices while parents are told to reduce children’s mixing. The Taoiseach says public health advice supports reduced socialisation, notes free antigen tests in schools, and says the Minister engages regularly with the sector.
On one hand, the Government is calling on parents to reduce children's social and human interaction and, on the other hand, it has refused to provide for timely PCR tests, free antigen tests or any contact tracing at all in the childcare and early learning sectors. Staff are currently waiting for five days for PCR tests, which is leading to wholesale absences in that sector. They are still forced to buy the antigen tests for around €8 because the discount stores are selling out within 20 or 30 minutes at the price of €3. There is no contact tracing at all in the sector, which means that the illness is spreading in the sector. Some parents are so desperate to go to work that they are sending their kids in with Calpol and hoping for the best. This is incredible. Other parents are being told they cannot send in their children. As a result, they are refusing to pay the sector and the sector in some cases is closing, which is causing massive stress and strain in the sector. I am told that the sector is threatening to walk out at the moment, such is the strain.
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I ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to meet-----
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-----with the stakeholders within the sector.
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To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, he has a very good relationship with the sector and engages regularly with it on a whole range of issues. As for children more generally, I do not know whether or not the Deputy accepts the public health advice or the importance of it, but the public health advice is such that the rates among five- to 11-year-olds and their parents are very high at the moment. The CMO and deputy CMO have therefore advised on reducing socialisation and inter-household mixing.
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But the Government is not contact-tracing in childcare.
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Let me finish, please. In the context of contact tracing, that was public health advice. We need to make up our minds on these matters. Are we to become the public health experts on everything? I take it we can interrogate and deal with the advice. In respect of children, 8,000 free antigen tests were given out and dispatched yesterday free in schools.