A prominent Fine Gael Senator has called for primary schools to shut on Friday.
Jerry Buttimer told the Seanad that Covid was running riot in these schools and he urged the Education Minister to close them this week.
This is necessary because there will be inter-generational mixing over Christmas, he said.
He added that he knew of one school where there were 100 students absent due to Covid-19.
"I am really appealing to the Education Minister to close the primary schools on Friday as a public health measure," he said.
Paul Murphy, the People Before Profit spokesperson on Education, has also called for primary schools to close on Friday for Christmas, three days early.
He called for an urgent Ministerial order to amend force majeure leave to include those parents who are unable to work as a result of school closures.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform told the Dáil today that the Government has "no plans for the early closure of schools before Christmas".
Michael McGrath noted that many schools had already lost two days due to Storm Barra.
He said the roll-out of vaccines for immunosuppressed five to 11-year-olds will start next week, and that the vaccines have "arrived in the country today".
Vaccines for the rest of that cohort "will start in early January".
"The Government has no plans for the early closure of schools"
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 15, 2021
Minister for Public Expenditure @mmcgrathtd says there are no plans for schools to close early before Christmas, adding that many schools have already lost two days due to Storm Barra | More: https://t.co/zNNUAV3goq pic.twitter.com/hQ3jyR47KI
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows the incidence of the virus has fallen in every age category.
It said decreased testing due to the impact of Storm Barra may be behind a fall in the number of children and adults who tested positive for Covid last week.
It reports 5,750 new infections for primary school age children. Last week, the incidence among this age group rose by 21% to 7,359.
Schools were also closed in many parts of the country for two days last week.
The Department of Education yesterday said it is not considering closing schools any earlier than planned before Christmas.
The Netherlands yesterday announced it will shut primary schools early and extend a night-time lockdown as fears grow over the Omicron coronavirus variant.
"This is obviously not the joyful message we had hoped for as Christmas approaches. But it's not a surprise," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a press conference.
More information about schools' extra funding
The Department of Education has published further details on how enhanced funding to enable schools to improve ventilation in classrooms can be used.
The €62 million in funding, announced on Monday, provides an additional average of €3,305 for a 60 pupil primary school, rising to €7,375 for a 500 pupil primary school.
The department said that all payments will be made this month.
In a circular to schools, it stated the payment of the grants at this stage gives schools the opportunity to undertake any minor works, including ventilation improvements, as a matter of priority.
As well as covering air filtration HEPA filters, the funding can also be used by schools to enhance outdoor learning environments, the department says.
It said schools have flexibility to address issues and take a targeted approach.
"Given that each school setting is different, individual schools are best placed to decide on the appropriate measures for their school and have flexibility in this regard," the document states.
The Department has also advised schools to seek specific technical specialist advice from an engineer or an architect on appropriate measures for enhancing ventilation as there is not one solution to fit all scenarios.
A dedicated team has been established in the Department of Education to support schools who may have concerns about ventilation. This team is available to contact schools where required, walking through the steps they should take to deploy good ventilation practices.
The additional funding is being provided to schools on top of regular 'minor works' grants generally paid annually. It represents an increase of 50% on that funding.
The grants will be paid to secondary schools in one tranche, and to primary schools in two tranches, with the standard grant paid first.
Post primary schools of up to 500 students will receive a total of €20,000, rising to €35,000 for schools with more than 1,000 students. These figures represent the total payment, comprising both the standard minor works, and the enhanced sum.
Vaccine information 'available shortly'
The Director of the National Immunisation Office, Dr Lucy Jessop has said information about when the vaccination programme will start for children will be available shortly.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Dr Jessop said NIAC has strongly recommended that 5-11 year olds with health conditions that would put them at severe risk of illness if they contracted Covid-19 should be vaccinated first.
She said this includes children who have recently had cancer, or who have chronic heart, kidney, liver or neurological conditions.
Vaccinations will take place at vaccination centres, she said, and there will be an option to attend at a quieter time for children who would prefer that.
Additional reporting: Emma O Kelly
