Written answers

Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Department of Education and Skills

School Staffing

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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266. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department collates figures for teacher absenteeism in primary and secondary schools; and the way this information is collated and the headline results generated. [42526/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Teachers in primary secondary and community/comprehensive schools are employed by the managerial authorities of the schools and paid salary by my Department on their behalf. The absences of teachers are recorded by the managerial authorities of the schools using the on line claim system. The information recorded is retained on my Departments database and is used to ensure the correct payment of teachers for their attendance in schools.

The information is also used to ensure that the rules applicable to the various types of leave granted to teachers such as sick leave and maternity leave are adhered to on an ongoing basis.

The managerial authorities of schools can obtain information from the database to monitor absenteeism of teachers employed by them on sick leave on an ongoing basis. The Department of Expenditure and Reform is provided annually with information on the absenteeism rates of teachers on sick leave with a view to monitoring trends in absenteeism across the public sector.

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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267. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to a study carried out by the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board on teacher absenteeism; his views on the finding of the report which indicated that the average rate of absenteeism was 3.4%; and the way these finding compare with other similar studies that he may be aware of carried out by other relevant authorities across the State. [42527/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The average rate of absenteeism on my Department's payroll due to sickness in the 2011/2012 school year was 3.4% among primary teachers and 3.8% among post primary teachers. The Department of Expenditure and Reform monitor trends in sick leave absenteeism across the public sector. The reported absenteeism rates for 2012 in the other sectors range from 2.7% in the Defence sector to 4.8% in the Health Sector, with rates of 4.6% in the Civil Service and 4.7% in the Local Government sector. My Department has put in place an Occupational Health Strategy as a supportive resource for teachers to promote their health in the workplace with a focus primarily on prevention rather than cure. The Occupational Health Strategy comprises of the Employee Assistance Service and Occupational Health Service. The Employee Assistance Service incorporates confidential counselling on issues such as health, relationships, bereavement, stress, conflict, critical incident and trauma. The Occupational Health Service incorporates pre-employment health assessments, sickness absence referrals, medical assessments of fitness for work and ill health retirement assessments.

In accordance with the Public Service Reform Programme new sick leave provisions have been agreed and are currently being implemented across the public service.

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