Sick cert ‘sufficient’ for pregnant teacher to take leave – Varadkar

The Tánaiste has said he believes a sick cert should be sufficient grounds for a pregnant woman to stay at home despite HSE advice to the contrary.

Leo Varadkar was responding to People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith who highlighted the case of a primary schools teacher 28 weeks pregnant who was advised by her doctor to go on health and safety leave because she was unable to socially distance.

Ms Smith said the woman’s doctor was getting his advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives, stating that “women who are 28 weeks pregnant and beyond are at an increased risk of becoming severely ill” if they contract Covid-19.

Mr Varadkar said “I would have thought that if someone is advised by a doctor to take health and safety leave or sick leave during pregnancy, that would be enough”.

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He said he would be happy to look into the case if Ms Smith passed him the details. “Certainly, when I was practising as a general practitioner, if a pregnant woman came into my surgery and I believed it was appropriate for her to take health and safety leave or sick leave, I would certify it.

“I have never come across it being second-guessed by someone else.”

Ms Smith said “there’s a bit of a war on teachers” and there was a need to “calm down the attack” as teachers were worried about the circumstances of their schools.

She added that “the definition of a close contact is very different for schools than it is for the rest of society and 80 per cent of schools are not properly ventilated”.

She added that they did not have the ability to socially distance and it was a major issue.

“We are constantly being told that schools are safe and that teachers should go in, work and keep them open. We all want to keep schools open but we need to keep them open safely. They are not magical places and the staff cannot do it all by themselves.”

Mr Varadkar said teachers had done a “fabulous job” in the pandemic.

He stressed that “schools are safe places for teachers and children”. Nowhere was 100 per cent safe in a pandemic but “schools are among the safest places in which to be during this pandemic. That applies to the staff as well as the students. We need to reassure people of that.”

He acknowledged that ventilation was an issue. “I believe we will have to look at our public buildings and see what we can do to improve ventilation where possible."

That might not always be possible, but where possible, we should try to do something.”