The Minister for Education has said she is confident that the measures and resources are being put in place to ensure a safe and timely return of students to schools next week.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Norma Foley said phenomenal work has being going on in schools across the country to ensure schools open safely and on time to welcome back students.
She said she hopes that schools in Kildare and other counties will operate as normal if a lockdown is extended in any county.
She said that substantial resources have been put in place by Government to support changing public health advice.
The Minister said that her department is now in discussions with Bus Éireann to roll out capacity as quickly and speedily as possible, after it was decided to cut capacity on second level school transport by 50%.
She said it is "quite a logistical challenge" to have the required additional 1,600 buses available by next week, but this will be rolled out as quickly as possible.
Ms Foley said that parents will be recompensated for any transport arrangements they put in place until a bus service is available in places.
Primary school transport will operate as normal.
Last month, the Government announced a €375 million school reopening plan which it says provides funding for 1,000 additional secondary school teachers, "enhanced cleaning and hand hygiene" supports and classroom "bubbles" for primary schools.
At second level, Ms Foley said a €75m building works package will be used to alter buildings and classrooms to ensure one-metre physical distancing.
Updates as back to school preparations continue
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD criticised the Education Minister for what he described as "ongoing lack of scrutiny and transparency over decisions".
His comments follow the publication of changes to the format of next year's Leaving and Junior Certificate exams and coursework.
Mr Ó Laoghaire said: "The Department has yet again decided that Friday evening is the best time to publish documents. This is deeply frustrating and I am concerned that this is not a constructive way for such important changes to be communicated.
"I am seeking a cross-party meeting with the Education Minister as a matter of urgency."
Earlier today, Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty said she was concerned about the safe return of children to schools and called for far more visibility from the minister to deal with the concerns of parents.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sarah McInerney, she said people are concerned about the issue of social distancing in schools as well as the calculated grading system for Leaving Certificate students.
She said the guidelines issued to schools "are great" but are not answering parents' concerns "and that's not going to happen in the Dáil".
Meanwhile the Department of Education has said that a school does have the right to refuse admission to any child who has been abroad and is not observing the 14-day restriction rule.
This follows concerns raised by one school that told RTÉ News it had been informed by the Department that it did not have the right to turn away any child on these grounds.
In a statement, the Department said schools have a duty of care to all of its pupils and staff members.
"If a school has reasonable grounds for believing that its duty of care toward its staff and pupils is being undermined in circumstance where a person - staff member or pupil - has not observed the mandatory requirement to self-isolate for 14 days following return from a non-green list country, it is reasonable for the school to refuse access to the pupil or staff member this period," the statement said.
Unions express concerns about safety in schools
The ASTI second level teachers' union is seeking a meeting with the Health Protection Surveillance Centre to seek a review of the HPSC advice provided to the Department of Education.
ASTI President Ann Piggott said the union is receiving a high number of communications from teachers expressing a variety of concerns, including the safety of students and teachers in the high-risk category who have underlying illnesses.
"School communities have been working hard to get schools ready for reopening," said Ms Ann Piggott.
"The ASTI is seeking this meeting to have the concerns of teachers addressed, most especially teachers suffering from serious underlying illnesses."
The union wants an expansion of accommodations by the Department to provide for teachers who fall into the various risk categories, including remote teaching.
Meanwhile primary teachers' union the INTO has reiterated concerns it has around testing and tracing for school staff and students.
The union said it has been told that discussions are ongoing between the Department of Education and the Department of Health around a request made by the INTO earlier this month for the fast-tracking of testing and tracing for school communities.
"With less than a week to go to the reopening of schools it's really important that clarity is given in relation to testing and tracing and how the situation is going to be monitored", INTO General Secretary John Boyle told RTÉ News.
Schools are also still awaiting detailed guidelines on the actions that should be taken should a case of Covid-19 be detected in their school.
Additional reporting Emma O Kelly
