The Minister for Education has said she has "every confidence" that her department "has the capacity for the full reopening of schools in late August, early September".
Norma Foley said there is "ongoing engagement" with public health on the matter. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, the minister said "strong mitigation measures" will be in place in schools to ensure that they continue to be "controlled environments".
She said Covid-19 infection rates among children are at their highest when children are not at school and public health experts have pointed on "a consistent basis to schools being a very significantly controlled environment".