Matt Shanahan presses for broader antigen testing in schools
Matt Shanahan questioned the minister on antigen testing in schools and urged a broader, faster roll-out. He argued antigen tests are an important tool and criticised the limited primary-school programme as insufficient given testing costs and international practice.
Minister outlines current school measures
The minister described the existing layered approach to keeping schools safe during COVID-19 - social distancing, enhanced cleaning, mask use in some student settings and for all staff, and adherence to school COVID response plans. She noted a 27 September 2021 decision following a recommendation from NETHIT to cease routine contact tracing of asymptomatic close contacts aged over three months to under 13 outside the household, while contact tracing continues for those over 13, including post-primary pupils.
New antigen testing programme for primary schools
The Department of Health and the HSC, in collaboration with the Department of Education, announced a programme offering antigen tests to primary-school children when cases arise. Parents of a PCR-confirmed child are asked to inform the school principal, who will notify parents of other children in the pod. If two cases occur in a class across more than one pod within seven days, antigen tests will be offered to every child in the class. No personal details will be shared; parents may opt to receive free antigen tests delivered to their home. Participation is voluntary and children in a pod may continue to attend school whether they take part in antigen testing or not.
Deputy Shanahan calls for wider, more frequent testing
Matt Shanahan said he promoted antigen testing during April and May 2020 and called for a faster, more extensive roll-out, arguing the proposed measures are "not significant enough and not often enough." He acknowledged limitations of antigen tests but cited an example of a UK school managing twice-weekly tests for 900 pupils and warned that the current approach risks being too slow to prevent spread. He also highlighted a cost differential he estimated at about 10 to 1 between PCR and antigen testing, suggesting more antigen testing could be carried out for the same expenditure.
Public health position and additional remarks
The minister said the Chief Medical Officer reviewed the evidence and sees antigen testing as an additional tool to be used alongside existing infection prevention and control measures. Matt Shanahan accepted the response but remained critical of its scope and frequency. He also raised supplementary health advice for teachers, citing evidence supporting vitamin D supplementation, and noted that official endorsement from NEFET or the CMO was not forthcoming in his view.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I thank the minister for coming in and for the continuing support that she offers to my office. Minister, my question relates to and maybe provide greater clarity in relation to antigen testing in schools and the way it is to be implemented within the school setting and if it will be used within both primary and secondary school settings and what protocol will be operating for SAIM, if you please. Thank you very much Deputy and I appreciate the question. The approach to supporting schools to operate safely during COVID-19 has been to follow as I have outlined previously and implement public health advice. A range of measures have been implemented across schools including social distancing, enhanced cleaning and of course as you would be aware in some settings mask wearing for students and in all settings for staff. As of 27 September 2021, following a recommendation from NETHIT, a decision was taken to cease routine contact tracing of asymptomatic close contacts in children older than three months to under 13 years outside of the household setting, including those attending primary education and childcare settings. Contact tracing continues for those over 13 years, including those attending post-primary schools. Schools are still required to undertake the two most important actions to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses by ensuring no one with new acute symptoms attend class and that all recommended infection prevention and control measures are in place in line with school COVID response plans. The Department of Health and the HSC, working in collaboration with the Department of Education, announced last week a programme in which antigen tests will be made available to children in primary schools when a case of COVID-19 arises. Parents and guardians of a primary school child who is a confirmed case of COVID-19 following a PCR test are asked to inform their school's principal. The school principal will then inform the parents of other children in the pod of a confirmed case. Where there are two cases in a class in more than one pod in a seven-day period, antigen tests will be offered to every child in the class. No personal details of the child will be shared, of course. These parents will be provided with the option to receive free antigen tests for their child, which they will be able to order for delivery to their home. It is important that parents inform principals quickly if a child receives a PCR-detected test for COVID-19. By doing this, the choice to participate in antigen testing can be offered to other parents. It is important that everyone continues to follow all of the public health advice in using this new programme. It is not mandatory for children to participate in antigen testing. Children who are in a pod where a child has tested positive for COVID-19 can continue to attend school, whether they participate in antigen testing or not. I brought antigen testing to an effort in April and May 2020. I am someone who is promoting this technology for quite a while. The antigen test for infectiousness is something that is very important. I think we are probably being too slow about rolling it out in the way we are proposing to roll it out. I accept it has limitations in terms of its effectiveness, whether it is in a managed setting or a less formal setting. What I would say is, and I said this in the House recently, I have a sister-in-law in the UK who is a school secretary, where they are managing antigen testing for all of the school's 900 pupils and doing it very successfully by two antigen tests for all school pupils every week. I think this is something that we should be looking at. I think the problem here is that the horse will have bolted while we are trying to close the stable door in a lot of cases with what we are proposing. I think for that reason I would ask you, and maybe it is difficult considering you are referencing public health advice, but I think what we are proposing is not significant enough and not often enough. I appreciate the very positive approach you take here and the generosity with which you share your experience. I do want to say in terms of our schools as they exist, comparable to other schools, there are very significant infection prevention and control measures in our schools, I would venture to say, and they are not comparable to the lack of them in other jurisdictions. Just in terms of the antigen testing, you will appreciate that there have been very differing views in terms of antigen testing and their utility and their effectiveness and all of that. But according as I suppose new evidence becomes available, as we have found throughout COVID, then implementation measures and their recommendations are altered. We now have the expert view of the CMO who, having reviewed evidence, believes that there is a role for antigen testing in our schools, but it is very clear to say that it is merely an additional tool and it will be seen and implemented in that respect, and all the other infection prevention and control measures will continue in our schools as well to support the operation of our schools. Thank you, Minister, and I accept the response as you have given it to me, but as I say, I do not think we are doing enough. I heard the CMO on radio the other morning and basically he was not gushing in his praise for what antigen testing could do, and I think that is a mistake. The other thing I would point out to you, there is a significant cost differential between PCR testing and antigen testing, probably at a rate of 10 to 1, and therefore it suggests that we could be doing a lot of antigen testing for a large amount of money that we are spending. Could I just offer you one other piece of advice, if I may, for the teachers in the country? There is a lot of evidence now that supports the supplementation of vitamin D, and despite again that NEFET or the CMO will not endorse this, I can tell you that most medics in the country are supplementing vitamin D, and I would ask that that message goes out to teachers at the moment. We live in a northern latitude in this country, we are not making enough vitamin D, and there is significant correlation between adverse COVID and low levels of vitamin D, and maybe that is something you might like to put out as a public health message at some point, Minister. Thank you, Deputy. In terms of the antigen testing, as I have the opportunity, I do want to say that there is a significant body of work under, obviously it is a public health measure and it is being led by the HSC, but there is a significant body of work underway where guidelines will now be made available to schools, you know, to principals, to school staff and to parents, and that will all be communicated in advance of Monday the 29th. Also to say as well that how correctly to utilise and to use the antigen testing will also form part of that communication, which I think is very important and there has been particular significance given to that by all the public health officials, that we would know exactly how best to use them and utilise them within the school. I want to be clear as well that, and I know I have said it previously, all of the measures that are recommended to us by public health, we have made available to our schools and we have resourced them. This is an additional tool, we will continue to listen and to work with public health, and any further recommendations or requirements that are necessary, we will also implement. Thank you Minister. Moving on.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
