The Taoiseach says illnesses other than Covid-19 are causing primary school children to become very sick.
Around 400 primary school children are testing positive for Covid 19 every day, according to the country's largest teacher union.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation says it's very concerned about the escalation in the number of cases in recent weeks and wants contact tracing to be resumed in primary schools as soon as possible.
The process of contact tracing positive Covid cases in schools ended on September 27th - despite numerous calls for it to be reinstated.
It also wants antigen testing to be introduced to help reduce the number of asymptomatic cases in schools.
Children aged between 5 and 11 - which is generally the age of a primary school child - is the only age group not to have a Covid-19 vaccine approved for use.
The European Medicines Agency is currently looking at data from Pfizer on the use of its vaccine in young children and says it will make a decision in December unless more data is required.
However, The Taoiseach says illnesses other than covid are causing primary school children to become very sick, and also says the issue of antigen tests being used in schools is being reviewed.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin announcing the Government’s plan for the new normal at Government Buildings.Photo: Julien Behal.
Speaking in Cork, Micheal Martin said, "the real message from public health has been RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) actually, and non-Covid respiratory illness are more of a problem for children in respect of hospital admissions.
"The same issue has not applied to Covid, in respect of children getting severely ill or going to hospital."
