Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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125. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the procedure for sick pay for special needs assistants has changed; if her Department no longer pay SNAs directly; if SNAs are required to apply for illness benefit from social welfare; if so, if same precludes recipients of the widow’s pension from receiving sick pay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13826/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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New arrangements regarding Illness Benefit payments came into effect from the 01/09/2019. An information note issued to all school employees in September 2019, advising them of these changes.

Under these arrangements, the Department now recoups what is due from salary based on the dates of absence as keyed by the school through OLCS. As outlined in the Sick Leave Schemethe SNA is required to submit the documentation (IB1/MED1) in relation to their Illness Benefit Claim, which can be obtained from DEASP or their GP, and forward it directly to DEASP with their payment details once completed. The SNA retains the benefit from DEASP to compensate for this deduction.

If the SNA does not qualify for the payment from DEASP due to insufficient PRSI contributions or because they are in receipt of a Pension (Widows Pension/Disability Pension/State Pension) that prohibits DEASP from issuing the Illness Benefit to them, then the SNA must obtain a letter from DEASP outlining the reason(s) they did not qualify for the benefit, or provide evidence that they are in receipt of a Pension, and forward a copy of that correspondence to the Illness Benefit Unit and we will update our records accordingly.

Any deductions made to the SNA’s salary for periods of absence that they did not qualify for the payment as outlined previously, will be refunded to them through the payroll. For audit purpose we require this clarification from DEASP in writing prior to processing any refund of Illness Benefit.