The Department of Agriculture should have issued a public notice on October 16 regarding issues related to the Virapro hand sanitizer. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConaughey said last night when the manufacturer was notified to recall its product.
Schools were only warned about the recall of the Virapro-branded hand sanitizer on Thursday night after the Department of Education issued a statement.
Several schools said they were forced to close on Friday because of the short notice, while many others struggled to find alternative products.
This is because some of the hand sanitizer products on the school stock list have been found to contain more methanol than ethanol.
Insufficient amounts of ethanol make the product ineffective and regular use of sanitizer with methanol can cause nausea, dermatitis, eye irritation, upper respiratory tract irritation and headache.
In response to the alert, the department told schools to close on Friday or to finish earlier, if they think such action is appropriate.
McConaughey told Dill that he only knew of the difficulties on Thursday.
The department on Tuesday acknowledged that it was the first to warn of safety issues with the use of hand sanitizers in schools.
“A statement was issued only on Thursday night after it became clear that the recall of the product had not begun and that his department had issued a statement regarding the product’s hazards.
“The primary responsibility for withdrawing products lies with the company concerned,” he said.
He said a full review of the problem handling would be conducted to ensure that the system is robust and lessons learned.
He said there was a problem when the European Anti-Fraud Office informed the Revenue Department that they had been contacted about importing a hand sanitizer from Turkey to Ireland from the same supplier of a product tested in Denmark. Excessive amounts of methanol were found to be present.
The results of the inspections conducted by the department on October 16 were fully validated.
Department of Education
The Department of Education on Friday acknowledged that it had initially warned of safety issues with the use of hand sanitizers in schools on Tuesday.
Opposition parties have demanded an end to delays in notifying schools and the public about security risks associated with hand sanitizers.
Labor party education spokesman Iodine Rordin said the delay in withdrawing the product needed an explanation. He said the short notice given to schools was insulting and insulting.
“Anxiety has now increased in the school community and we need clarification as to why it took the department two days to recall this product. It is not acceptable to issue a statement at 11pm on the effective closure of affected schools, ”he said.
Matt Carty, Sinn Fin’s agriculture spokesman, said the minister needed to explain why the issue only came to light on Thursday night when he was being publicly recalled from Tuesday.
He asked if the department had initially approved the product and if so, how.
McConaughey and his department “asked Cavan-Monaghan TD when they first became aware of concerns about this product. When did you decide to consider the recall?
“Why, when the decision to recall was formalized on Tuesday, was not announced until very late on Thursday night? At what point did Tanist, Taoich, and the Minister of Health report another failure? ”
Problems
Peiric Clerk, chief executive of the Irish Primary Principals Network, said the briefing on security issues had caused problems in many schools.
While some were forced to close, last-minute measures were taken to ensure that others had safe alternatives.
“Some principals were going to their schools at midnight to check on their belongings,” he said.
Others were rushing to organize alternative supplies on Friday morning. Many of the affected schools had very little time to prepare. ”
The list of 11 people who have been approved to provide protective equipment to schools for suppliers of products.
St. Patrick’s Boys’ National School in Drumcontra and Rose Io in Gilesco, Rush, Co. Dublin, said they had to close because they relied on the product.
St. Patrick’s Boys National School Chairperson Ann Looney said the school could have been reopened on Friday if it had been announced on social media instead of 11pm on Thursday night. “I’m sure there are some principals who do not see that [social media post] Last night, they woke up this morning and found that the hand sanitizer throughout their school was an unsuitable product, ”she said on RTE’s Claire Byne show.
The parents were informed of the decision to close the school at 11.45pm on Thursday. Miss Looney and principal Natasha Bassett said they were considering “various options” but were too uncertain and decided to close the school.
Disappointed
Tim Ó tuchaig, principal of Rose Io in Gilesco, Russell, Dublin, said he found out about the recall from an email Thursday night and was disappointed to learn that the issue came out early on Tuesday.
Mr Tuchai said some parents were “beautiful” and that it was “ridiculous” to be found so late on Thursday night.
He said his school uses anti-bacterial wipes and surface cleaners of the same brand as quoted by the Department of Agriculture and that this could affect them as well.
They said the school would open at 8.30am and were struggling to remove the hand sanitizer and replace it throughout the building in a timely manner.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the recall of the sanitizer was a matter of great concern and unfortunate. “In the coming months, a number of steps will be taken to reopen and reopen schools, putting a significant burden on them.”
“We hope there will be no adverse effects on anyone,” an ASTI spokesman said.
“We know of schools with sanitizers, and they are making alternative arrangements this morning. Some schools already have another sanitizer on site. Schools that rely on this sanitizer should be supported to resolve this issue as soon as possible. ”
In response to the alert, the Department of Education told schools to close Friday or complete such action earlier if it deems appropriate.
“The Department of Education informs us of the need for all schools to check whether this distributor has been used and whether there are stocks of this product. Schools should follow the advice of the Department of Agriculture to stop using it, ”it said.
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