Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise the plight of personal assistants across our education and training board, ETB, sector, who have the same roles and responsibilities as our very hard-working special needs assistants, SNAs.

The Minister has been instrumental in regularising their working terms and conditions but now we need to turn our attention to and focus on the same working terms and conditions, pay and holidays, for our PAs. I will tell an anecdotal story of a PA who is working in education and training board, ETB, who has been employed since 2007 and who still does not have a contract of indefinite duration, CID. After 13 years of service in the role of PA, there has been no provision for holiday pay during the summer, Easter or Christmas. They also face the humiliation of having to apply for social welfare. While they are eligible for jobseekers' allowance, they also run out of that before they return to the college in September. Those who do not have a CID also have no pension or provision for pension entitlements.

PAs have had no pay increase and I believe they have not been included in the public sector pay rise.

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