Ms Anne Howard:

What I have heard from teachers in schools in the post-primary sector is that engagement with the schools came quite late so, with regard to planning, there was a rushed effort at the end on the part of the schools and putting all of the structures and resources required to roll the provision out in schools was incredibly difficult. This year in particular was incredibly difficult because people were coming out of two years of the Covid pandemic and there were great demands on schools. It was a very stressful environment. People had been working in a very difficult environment over the two years. Many of our members and colleagues on the ground were saying they were just exhausted. When it came to the summer time, they just could not face back into the classroom.

I will address one of the difficulties. This year, the Department rolled out an online claims process for teachers, which I really welcome. That speeded up payment for teachers and was welcomed. Last year, the situation was different. The committee members will have heard reports of some people not being paid until December. That was a real difficulty. It was particularly difficult for one group. As members will be aware, not all teachers get full 22-hour contracts when they start out, particularly in the post-primary sector. Their contracts also do not pay them throughout the summer. Some people's payments end at the beginning of June and they are not paid again until they take up a contract in the summer. These people can be left with no choice but to take up other work during the summer months or to sign on for a jobseeker's payment. Some such teachers were concerned that they would not receive payment until December and could not allow themselves to receive no payment during the summer months. This is one of the reasons they did not engage. I do believe this is a crucial service that should be rolled out. If it is rolled out and if schools are given adequate time, it will be possible to run it in a good structured way.

It would become part of the system but, again, the structures and supports need to be given early to schools so they know what they need, what they have available and how many people they can employ to do that.

We would also like to see a number of things put in place in respect of the July provision. For example, there is a situation whereby students in sixth class who want to avail of July provision are not able to do so in the post-primary school they are going to the following year. It would be a very welcome change if it were possible for those students to avail of July provision in that post-primary school so they then get an opportunity to be in the place they will be in the following year. It gives them a great opportunity to begin there. It would be wonderful if the teachers in the school could be encouraged and facilitated to do that. In order to encourage and facilitate teachers in post-primary schools to engage with that, it would also be great if continuing professional development was rolled out to them. People should be given adequate skills and training so when the offer of engaging with summer provision becomes available to them, they feel they are equipped to do it.

There are a number of issues. Mr. Duffy outlined the needs in our submission. I understand the Deputy's frustration. I know she sees this as a service that is essential to families. It is even more so now, given what we have been through for the past two years. It is very important because the disconnect is already there due to Covid. To continue that disconnect, where students were unable to engage with summer provision, was a major loss to those families and not just to the students themselves. We absolutely support the roll-out of July provision. We are just saying to give schools, as with all roll-outs of SEN provision in schools, adequate time to plan, prepare and put the resources in place so they can roll it out appropriately without the stress. Schools have become an awfully stressful environment, and they are incredibly busy.