Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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136. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address issues concerning the primary education sector as outlined in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50082/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am keenly aware of the huge contribution made by all Principals in our schools, including teaching principals.

The COVID-19 supports provided under The Roadmap for the Full Return to School in 2020, included specific funding to support Principals who undertake teaching duties in primary schools. This funding provided each teaching principal with a minimum of one release day per week. Schools have been advised that, in the context of COVID-19, the additional allocation of Principal Release Days will remain in place for the 2021/22 school year and each school with a teaching principal will have 37 Principal Release Days.

Staffing arrangements for the 2022/23 school year will be finalised in the Spring and will be made available to schools through the Department website.

Circulars were recently issued by my Department in relation to a pay increase for public servants under the national agreement “Building Momentum” which was agreed between the Government and ICTU. Building Momentum includes a 1% increase for public servants from 1 October 2021 and the circulars were issued to inform schools and other public bodies of the new pay rates.

Unfortunately, one circular was issued indicating that the increase applied to certain staff beyond public servants (including grant-funded staff such as school secretaries, caretakers and cleaners). This was an error as the increase does not apply beyond public servants and when this error came to the attention of the Department the relevant circular was withdrawn. The Department apologises for any confusion or upset caused by this unfortunate error.

My Department has acted in recent years on the pay of grant funded staff. For example it has fully implemented and funded the 2015 recommendations of an independent arbitrator for a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 and that a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 be phased in over that period for secretaries and caretakers.

You may be aware that Fórsa trade union has tabled a follow-on claim from that arbitration and officials from my Department and school management bodies have been engaging with Fórsa on the issues. Following intensive discussions at the WRC on 13th September, there has been significant progress in this dispute. Subject to agreement on all elements of the claim, the Department has offered to move School Secretaries’ pay rates to a scale which is aligned with the Clerical Officer Grade III pay scale within education and training boards on a pro rata basis with an effective date of implementation for these new pay arrangements of 1st September 2021. Pay rates will be pro rata according to a secretary’s current working pattern. The pay scale offered will include the 1% pay increase from 1 October 2021 referred to.

My officials have engaged with Fórsa throughout this process and I look forward to continued progress under the Workplace Relations Commission.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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137. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider allowing schools that have to use special education teachers to cover staff absences due to Covid-19 given that no other substitute is available to bank the hours to use for the purpose of special education teaching provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50101/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that there is no facility to carryover SET hours from one school year to the next. Hours accumulated in any given school year must be utilised in the same school year.

Where hours were accumulated due to a school receiving a backdated increase to their Special Education Teaching hours, or due to a Special Education Teacher being used to cover substitution, as an emergency measure, schools were advised that any loss of special education teaching time should be made up at the first available opportunity by employing additional teaching resources to make up for the shortfall.

The decision to request schools to stop banking SET hours is an important measure in ensuring children with SEN get access to their specialised teaching on an ongoing basis and therefore it is in their best interest that this education support is not disrupted.

As a measure of last resort, schools were permitted to use non-mainstream class teachers last year to provide cover for teacher absences. Due to the successful roll out of the vaccination programme teacher absences due to Covid-19 should be reduced this year. Therefore using non-mainstream class teachers should no longer be necessary and schools should revert to using the normal sequence as set out below and should plan to ensure access to substitutes in this manner.

By no longer using non-mainstream teachers to provide substitute cover, schools will no longer need to ‘bank hours’. This will help ensure that the disruption to teaching and learning provided by non-classroom teachers will be avoided. This approach will also ensure that SET allocations are used for the children with special educational needs.

Schools have now been advised to ensure that they have plans in place to ensure that they have access to substitutes to cover teacher absences.

Supply panels have been put in place to support schools to access substitutes. Schools can also make arrangements to have their own regular substitutes to call on if they need a substitute. There is also a National Substitute service available to schools.

Sequence for covering all teacher absences is as follows:

·Supply panel if the school is part of a supply panel cluster arrangement,

·School’s own panel of regular substitutes,

·National substitute service,

·Administrative Principal if applicable

·Local arrangements that facilitate the pupils to be supervised in a manner that does not involve them being split between existing classes in classrooms