Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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468. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if retired special needs assistants who have reached mandatory retirement age can be re-employed as special needs assistants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4984/16]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In accordance with the Superannuation scheme a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) who is not "a new entrant" under the terms of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, must retire at the end of the school year in which he/she reaches age 65.

The abolition of the compulsory retirement age under the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 applies to new entrants only. The retirement provisions, which apply to public servants (including SNAs) who are not new entrants, are not affected by the Act.

There is a provision in Circular 41/2011 which enables a retired SNA to be employed by a school post retirement: 'Where an SNA who is retired and is in receipt of a pension returns to the position of an SNA on or after 1 January 2011, s/he will start on the first point of the post 1 January 2011 incremental salary scale. In the event that a person who has retired on pension is subsequently re-employed, within a period of 26 weeks after retirement this subsequent employment will be in a non-pensionable capacity.