Cabinet to sign off on returning Ireland to most severe Covid-19 lockdown

Cabinet will meet this morning to approve the suggestions of the sub-committee on Covid-19 which include school and construction closures,

The Government will today sign off on plans to close schools and construction sites, returning Ireland to the most severe Covid-19 lockdown.

Cabinet will meet this morning to approve the suggestions of the sub-committee on Covid-19 which include school and construction closures, a ban on click-and-collect shopping, and a requirement on all travellers to be tested for Covid-19 before entering the country.

The moves are being made to cut mobility across the country, with fears that the health service is reaching a breaking point in dealing with the virus. 

However, the Ombudsman for Children is urging the Government to avoid a blanket school closure, citing fears that some children could regress if they are not in schools.

Dr Niall Muldoon told RTÉ Radio One that he was "encouraging the Government to not look at closures as a one-size-fits-all approach". 

He said that many children will have developed or learned skills last year which they lost in the March lockdown. He added that many of the most disadvantaged children had been worst impacted. He said that schools in the UK had stayed open in the last lockdown by creating regionalised hubs which gave parents "the option" of sending their children in.

The moves are being made to cut mobility across the country, with fears that the health service is reaching a breaking point in dealing with the virus. 

Dr Muldoon said that leaving special needs schools open, which is being discussed by the Government, "would be huge" and said that the priority must be ensuring that schools are safe.

The director-general of the Construction Industry Federation, Tom Parlon, said that he was "shocked" that sites would be closed.

Mr Parlon told Newstalk Breakfast that he had been shocked to learn that the Government was considering closing down the sector during the current lockdown.

The sector has “an exemplary record” on sites, he said, with only four cases and two outbreaks out of 200,000 construction workers on sites around the country up to the week of December 14.

Sites were closed for the two weeks over Christmas and therefore could not have contributed to the current surge, he pointed out.

“Sites are being excellently managed.” 

Mr Parlon said that during the last lockdown 5,000 homes had not been built and output had dropped by 10% at at a cost of €3bn to the industry and the economy.