Norma Foley: Every effort will be made to ensure safe school return after mid-term break

General secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), John Boyle has warned the Government now has eight to nine days to ensure that schools are safe. File Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Education minister Norma Foley has said school communities “can be absolutely assured” that any necessary resources and measures will be put in place to ensure a safe and successful return to school after the Halloween mid term break.

“I acknowledge that there will always be concerns,” she told RTÉ radio. 

“When schools closed in March, there was concern whether we could ever successfully reopen schools. But because of the efforts of all, there has been a very safe and successful return to the opening of schools.” 

Earlier, teaching unions blasted the government's approach to testing and tracing as "shambolic", with the INTO claiming the time to ensure safety in schools is running out, and that there is a good chance schools will not reopen after the mid-term break. 

General secretary of the INTO John Boyle said he did not think children would be returning to school after the Halloween mid term break. 

He asked if parents would be prepared to put their children on school buses or if pregnant teachers would be prepared to return to school.

“The Government now has eight to nine days to convince me that their shambolic approach to tracing is going to improve," Mr Boyle said.

The teachers unions will be meeting with NPHET today, he said, and they are prepared to work with public health officials to ensure schools were safe, but he had concerns about the data to date and exactly how many children and teachers had contracted the virus.

Responding, the minister said it was a rather harsh term “to attribute to our public health staff who, I believe, are showing great dedication and professionalism working through very difficult circumstances and changing circumstances.

“Everything that’s being done, every step of the way, is underpinned by public health,” she added.

The minister said that public health resources for testing and tracing in schools would be “broadened and strengthened.” 

School teams were being put in place in each HSE area supporting the work of public health teams, she explained.

On the return to school after Halloween, this will give “a strengthened approach” to public health resources, she said, which would be deployed into schools when necessary.

Ms Foley said it was a shared objective of everybody within the school sector to keep schools open to continue children's education safely through the pandemic.

On the issue of the Leaving Certificate exams, Ms Foley said the current plan, which will be in conjunction with public health advice available at the time – is to go ahead with the written exams on 16th November.