IRISH SCHOOLS are set to open back up next month with an announcement from the Education Minister Norma Foley reportedly due in the next few days.
Officials are set to meet today to discuss the arrangements and are likely to finalise their plans by next week at the very latest.
The news comes less than a day after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar insisted that there was "no reason" why Ireland should be the only nation in Europe not to reopen its schools in August.
"There's no reason that we shouldn't be able to return to schools opening at the end of August, indeed as they have opened in other countries that have a higher incidence of the virus than we do like Germany for example where they opened in June or even before that," Varadkar said.
"It is essential, provided that the virus stays suppressed, that schools open and that parents have that assurance.
"And that children get back to education and get back to their social and educational development, which is so crucial," he added.
The government has been under pressure to formulate a plan for the reopening of schools for a number of weeks now.
Varadkar urged people to "bear with" the government while a plan is put in place over the coming days or weeks, but stressed that he had "every confidence" that teachers and schools will be fully prepared for opening by the end of August at the latest.
