Mr. James Walsh:

That is a different scheme. That is the assault leave scheme. There is an occupational injury scheme and an assault leave scheme. The latter scheme is in place at the moment. It covers where a person has received a physical injury as a result of physical contact from a third party. We have launched a consultation process with the teacher unions and Fórsa as to the terms of that scheme. They apply equally to teachers and SNAs. One of the issues is around the definition in the scheme. We are looking at it. There are assault leave schemes in other parts of the public sector, which are the genesis of the one we have.

There are differing priorities in terms of what people are looking for from the scheme. Some are looking to expand the definition of "assault" to take in other concerns. Others have a concern that where assault is mentioned in the context of a child, it is not correct. There are those who genuinely suffer what would be considered an assault or see themselves as victims of assault, and they would not be in favour of changing the definition. There are differing priorities and conflicting positions that make it less straightforward to address than one might initially think.