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The Education Minister has said that 750 applications have been submitted by teachers claiming to be “very high risk” of contracting the coronavirus.
Norma Foley told the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 that 547, or 73%, of these apps, to date, had been successful.
She said these decisions were made by independent medical officials “separate from the Department of Education.”
The minister said officials would err on the side of teachers in cases that were difficult to determine.
Earlier, the Teachers Union of Ireland warned of what it described as a “chronic and massive” shortage of teachers.
Secretary General Michael Gillespie told the committee that high schools in urban areas would be hit the hardest.
On testing for Covid-19, Foley said there would be priority testing at schools where an outbreak was confirmed.
He said he had raised the issue with the Department of Health and the Health Services Executive and that schools “would not be treated differently than other settings.”
The minister said that the response to confirmed virus cases or outbreaks in schools would be directed and administered by the HSE and any action the school needs to take would be communicated directly by the HSE.
The administration of individual schools would be informed if a partial or total closure of the facilities were necessary, he said.
Ms. Foley said that the definition of close contacts within a school would be determined by a risk assessment that would take into account individual factors within each school or class. She said that an entire class would not be automatically assumed to be considered close contacts.
The minister said the HSE would directly notify close contacts and recommend restricting their movements.
Ms Foley said that children who had a runny or stuffy nose, but did not have a fever, could continue to attend school, but if students needed paracetamol or ibuprofen, they should stay home for 48 hours and parents should contact with a GP.
The minister said there was no general policy for evaluating classes or entire years. In the event of an outbreak, public health officials would determine the interventions that should be implemented, from excluding and testing a small group of students to closing an affected facility.
Ms Foley said that, to date, payments of 160 million euros have been made to schools to plan for their reopening.
He said this funding was helping schools implement physical measures, including reconfiguring classroom spaces, reusing rooms, purchasing furniture, modifying the layout of desks, and renting additional space to short term.
The minister said her officials had met again with primary and post-primary stakeholders yesterday to discuss the reopening process.
Ms. Foley said that teachers and post-primary students should wear face covers when a physical distance of two meters is not possible. Other students can wear face covers if they wish, he added.
He acknowledged that school transportation was an area of ”considerable interest” and described it as a “massive daily logistics enterprise.”
In response to claims that the situation was “” chaotic, “the minister said there would be a requirement for” 1,600 additional buses and drivers “and that funds were being put in to make it possible.
He said the Department of Education was not responsible for private transportation services.
Ms. Foley said arrangements for the elementary school’s transportation would proceed as planned with services fully operational with additional safety measures in place, such as pre-assigned seating and additional hygiene and cleanliness measures.
The minister said that Bus Éireann had informed him that around 400 of the 2,100 post-primary services were able to operate at 50% capacity. He said this number should increase in the coming weeks and months.
Referring to yesterday’s announcement on Leaving Cert scores, the minister said the estimated scores would be adjusted to ensure a consistent standard is applied across all schools.
He said the changes introduced would eliminate the use of historical school-by-school data in the standardization model and put a greater emphasis on the estimated grades awarded to individual students.
Earlier, teacher unions raised concerns about physical distancing in schools and called for a review of the requirements.
Kieran Christie, general secretary of the Irish Secondary Teachers Association, said he had several questions, including why no guidance had been provided on the numbers that could be flocked for school assemblies and staff meetings.
Unions said they were receiving reports that some schools have yet to implement public health guidelines on social distancing.
Andy Pike of the Fórsa union said he had received reports that several schools had refused to buy personal protective equipment or were requiring staff to reuse face masks, contrary to HSE advice.
The National Organization of Teachers of Ireland called for a review to be carried out, later this month, to assess the reopening of schools and identify any improvements that may be needed.
Secretary General John Boyle said such a review should be “intergovernmental” and include input from the Health and Safety Authority, HSE, the inspection and other stakeholders.
He also asked employers to show flexibility for workers whose children may have to isolate themselves in the coming months.
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