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The government keeps the situation facing Ireland’s schools “under review” and is desperate to avoid a second long-term closure, according to Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman.
The Green Party TD today admitted that “the prolonged closure of schools at the beginning of the year was not good for children, especially for children from the most deprived areas.”
But he declined to say with certainty whether the government’s stance on the issue will change, adding that the situation will remain “under review” in the coming days amid pressure from schools and unions for an early decision.
“We want to avoid a long-term closure,” O’Gorman told RTE’s Morning Ireland, as the government continues to insist that schools will reopen next Monday despite a big jump in the number of cases over the past week.
“But we are keeping the situation under review,” he said.
The minister said that if the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team of Ireland (NPHET) changes, “obviously the policy of the Government would change.”
And the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said: “We have always expressed the opinion that we wanted to keep schools and daycare centers open.
“The advice from NPHET has always been that schools are safe to open.
“The Government made the decision last week that, in light of the particularly high levels of Covid that were identified throughout the community, we wanted to make a sustained effort to reduce the movement this week.”
Education Minister Norma Foley will meet with opposition spokespersons today to discuss the issue, but has made it clear that the government wants schools to reopen next week.
But there are reportedly concerns among some ministers about the implications of allowing students to return to school as the number of cases reaches unprecedented levels.
Yesterday, the Department of Health reported 4,962 new cases of coronavirus and seven more deaths.
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