Written answers

Wednesday, 8 November 2017

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs Staff Contracts

Photo of Jack ChambersJack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the reduction in hours for a person (details supplied) at a school; if this reduction is a breach of contract; the reason this reduction has occurred when there has been no change in circumstances at the school; if the full-time hours will be reallocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47199/17]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) employed in a school depends on the allocation given to the school by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), based on its assessment of the special educational needs of pupils in the school. My Department has no control over the allocation process to schools and is not in a position to influence the allocation process in light of the fact that the NCSE is an independent statutory body. A school’s allocation can increase or decrease and where schools receive a reduced allocation this can be for a variety of factors, such as pupils for whom the school had previously received an allocation have left, or have declining care needs. In light of this, the employment of SNAs may be reduced from full-time to part-time or may be terminated by way of redundancy where the approved allocation of the school is reduced.

Where a full-time SNA post within a school is reduced to a part-time post, the issue of redundancy payment in respect of the loss of hours may arise. Redundancy arrangements for SNAs are set out in Department Circular 0058/2006.

In addition, as per the provisions of the Supplementary Assignment Arrangements for SNAs which were established on foot of proposals brought forward by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) when the Haddington Road Agreement was being agreed and which continue to operate under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 - 2020, and both unions representing SNAs, namely SIPTU and IMPACT, have signed up to that agreement, where a school/ETB has an additional allocation of SNA hours/posts, then that additional allocation of hours/posts must be offered to any existing part-time SNAs in that employment, in order of seniority, before the employer has recourse to recruitment. These arrangements are set out in Department Circular 0042/2017 (which can be accessed via the link ).

On 5thJuly 2017, I announced that 975 additional SNAs were to be allocated to schools over the period September to December 2017, a 7.5% increase in SNA numbers in order to meet the level of assessed demand. This announcement brings the total number of SNAs to 13,990, representing an increase in the total numbers of SNAs of 32%, from 10,575 to 13,990 since 2011.

In addition, and as announced as part of Budget 2018, funding is being allocated for the recruitment of over 1,090 new SNAs in 2018 (based on current forecasts), including some 130 posts which will be filled in the period between January and June next year, with the remainder being appointed from September 2018. This brings the total number of SNAs to over 15,000 (a 43% increase since 2011).

While reduced hours or redundancies will unavoidably occur in individual schools due to a variety of circumstances, these increases in SNA numbers coupled with the operation of the Supplementary Assignment Panel Arrangements make it more likely that SNAs can avoid redundancy and that part-time SNAs can gain or regain full-time employment.

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