Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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604. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that are being taken to ensure that replacement teachers and SNAs are available for schools where staff are out on sick leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55257/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The terms and conditions of the Sick Leave Scheme are contained in my Department’s Circular Letter 0054/2019 (Chapter 1) for primary and post primary teachers and Circular 0060/2019 for SNAs. Where a teacher or SNA is absent on sick leave, the employer may appoint a substitute teacher or SNA, paid by my Department to cover the absence.

My Department runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of substitute teachers.

Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23. Over 3,450 primary and post-primary NQTs have had their registrations finalised by the Teaching Council this year to date with further applications currently in progress.

Significant additional posts have been allocated to the primary substitute teacher supply panels in areas where significant challenges in sourcing substitution continue, bringing the total to 610 posts on 151 panels, covering approximately 2,800 schools. The supply panels work alongside the existing methods of sourcing substitute teachers and schools can also make local arrangements to have their own regular substitutes to call on if needed.

Sub Seeker, a central portal for short-term substitute vacancies, was jointly developed by IPPN / NAPD in accordance with my Department's Teacher Supply Action Plan and launched in December 2019. The portal matches available primary and post-primary teachers with short-term substitute vacancies. Almost 12,000 teachers have registered with Sub Seekerto date.

On a temporary basis for the 2022/23 school year, job sharing teachers may be employed to work in a substitute capacity, during the period they are rostered off duty, in their own or in other schools

The limit on substitute work applying to teachers on career break has also been temporarily suspended for the 2022/23 school year.

The Teaching Council made regulations allowing for the registration of 3rd and 4th year undergraduate student teachers under a new registration route, Route 5 (Student Teachers). Approximately 1,300 student teachers applied for registration under the first cycle of Route 5 registrations. The second cycle of Route 5 registrations commenced in early October. Once registered with the Teaching Council, student teachers can be employed by a school to cover substitutable vacancies.

At post-primary level it has been decided to rollout a scheme that will provide for teachers to teach additional hours in their subject area over and above the current maximum 22-hour limit, similar to the scheme that applied in the 2021/22 school year but with some important modifications. It is planned to publish details of the new scheme after the October mid-term break.

My Department will continue, with the cooperation of the education partners, to develop and implement measures to address challenges faced by schools and to support the supply of teachers.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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605. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has assessed the impact that the cut to support teaching hours has had on girls’ national schools in the Dublin area; if any steps can be taken to alleviate the negative impact that it is having on such schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55258/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

The Special Education Teacher (SET) Allocation model was introduced in 2017 to allocate the total number of available SET posts on the basis of the educational profile of each school and replaced the previous diagnosis led approach for the allocation of additional teaching time to students with special educational needs and is a more transparent and equitable way of allocating teaching resources to schools.

School profiles have now been updated to take account of the latest available data including enrolments and the resulting allocations are effective from September 2022 and will remain in place for two years.

In relation to girls only National schools in Co Dublin in the most recent re-profiling 19 schools gained as part of the re-profiling and 12 lost and 7 saw no change in their allocation.

The allocation of special education teachers to mainstream schools is based on a school’s educational profile, which comprises two components:

- Baseline component provided to every mainstream school to support inclusion, assistance with learning difficulties and early intervention, and

- A school educational profile component, which takes into account:

- The number of pupils with complex needs enrolled to the school.

- The learning needs of pupils as evidenced by standardised test results for literacy and numeracy.

- The social context of the school including disadvantage and gender.

A value is applied for each student counted in the complex need category in each school. The data for the complex needs component is now sourced from the HSE Children Disability Network Teams (CDNT) for children who are entering junior infants who have had an assessment or who have been put on a waiting list for assessment.

Data has been received from the HSE (CDNT) on the number of new entrants with complex needs to primary schools and this data has been incorporated into the model.

The HSE’s procedures for determining access to Children Disability Network Teams are outlined in the National Policy on Access to Services for Children & Young People with Disability & Developmental Delay (HSE 2016) www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/disability/progressing-disability/pds-programme/documents/national-policy-on-access-to-services-for-disabilities-and-developmental-delay.pdf

Access is based on the child’s functioning capacity across a range of domains, as opposed to being based on a formal diagnosis of disability.

In cases where a school has no complex needs value in their allocation letter, this indicates that no complex needs value data was available to the model as no complex need data was returned for the school by the relevant CDNT.

Circulars 20/2022 and 21/2022 provide further details in relation the components which make up a schools educational profile.

A school may seek a review of their allocations by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), including the utilisation of their allocations, in circumstances where a school considers that very exceptional circumstances have arisen subsequent to the development of the profile.

If a school wishes to make an exceptional needs review appeal, they should contact the NCSE at www.ncse.ie.