The Minister of Health says that ‘there will be no longer pause in the medium term’

Updated 28 minutes ago

HEALTH MINISTER Stephen Donnelly has said that there will be no extension for the upcoming mid-term school holidays later this month.

Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week program, Donnelly said schools were not contributing to the spike in Covid-19 numbers and dismissed reports that the government was considering extending the one-week recess.

His comments followed earlier comments from Prime Minister Niall Collins, who also indicated that there are no plans to close schools for more than a week for the midterm break.

Collins’ comments, which he made on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics show, come amid speculation that schools could close if the government introduced a Level 5 lockdown or temporary “ circuit breaker ” to address the increase in the number of cases.

Collins, the minister of state for the Department of Continuing and Higher Education, said “there was no plan to close schools beyond the one-week recess.”

He said the students had faced enough turmoil this year and that the government owed it to them to prevent further disruptions to their education.

“We owe it to them to keep our schools open,” Collins said.

“Schools that stay open are a high priority for this government,” he said.

“I don’t think the parents of the children and the children themselves would appreciate us if we closed the schools.”

In a statement this afternoon, Martin also said that keeping schools open remains “a key government priority.”

On Friday, a spokesman for the Department of Education and Skills said no decision has been made to extend the schools’ midterm vacation.

“To date, the evidence shows that schools have reopened safely supported by significant investment to support all infection prevention and control measures recommended by public health authorities,” the spokesperson said.

Keeping schools open safely for children and staff is a key priority at all levels of the government’s Plan for Living with COVID-19.

Collins did not provide further clarity on the measures the government was considering. He said the Cabinet would take the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar suggested this weekend that the government could consider and implement in the near future a “short and hard blockade to hit the virus on the head again”, or a circuit interruption.

It comes days after the government rejected NPHET’s recommendation that the entire country move to Level 5 to suppress an alarming increase in Covid-19 cases.

Concerns have been raised about the impact a prolonged school closure would have on student development.

As of October 6, 252 schools have had or are completing some tests as a result of a public health risk assessment. Almost 6,000 students and teachers have participated in massive tests.

Of the 252 schools that had massive testing, 112 additional cases have been detected in addition to the original cases.

With reporting by Christina Finn, Sean Murray