Child protection rapporteur says school closures must be avoided at all costs 

'School closures are incredibly damaging to children so we have to do everything we can to avoid that. Are we really using all the measures available to us? It didn’t seem like we were a week ago but now it seems that we are slowly moving in that direction.' File picture: PA Wire

The Government’s Special Rapporteur on Child Protection says Ireland needs to be able to say that everything was done to ensure schools could stay open safely in the pandemic.

Professor Conor O’Mahony of University College Cork said school closures last year and this year because of the pandemic had an “absolutely appalling impact on children”. He added that schools need to be kept open now at all costs.