Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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238. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will allow for special school staff such as caretakers, cleaners and bus escorts to be paid under the online claims system, in order to reduce the administrative burden on schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36888/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department recognises the vitally important role of Caretakers, Cleaners and Bus Escorts within school communities, as a key link between students, school leaders and other staff, ensuring that both the caretaking and cleaning needs of the school are met, and that children with additional needs are escorted safely on buses. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable.

The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for caretaking, cleaning services and bus escort needs under relevant grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to support those functions those staff are not public servants but employees of individual schools and responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school.

Since September 2023 my department has been providing a payroll service for former grant funded school secretaries. This happened on foot of an Agreement reached in 2022, under the auspices of the WRC, that secretaries would move to a centralised pay roll managed by the Department and receive new terms and conditions of employment. The Department is committed to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar package to that offered to school secretaries in the near future. There are currently no plans to offer a similar agreement to cleaners and bus escorts.

Boards of Management/ETBs are responsible for the employment of School Transport Escorts. Grant funding issues yearly in advance to schools requiring this support, based on a reconciliation process that is carried out during the summer months, and on the rate of pay which is determined by the department. Once sanction has been sought in advance, additional funding can be provided for the employment of new escorts during the year, or where existing escorts are working longer hours due to route extensions.

An administration charge is also payable to each school, calculated based on 5% of the hours worked by the escorts employed by the school. This charge is intended to assist schools in defraying the cost of administering the employment of escorts in their school. It is a matter for the Board of Management/ETB to decide how this is utilised. A new Information Note on School Transport Escorts has recently been circulated to schools and is also available on the School Transport website on: www.gov.ie/schooltransport

The On-Line Claims System (OLCS) facilitates recording of staff absences (illness, parental leave, force majeure, etc.), claims for substitute cover, submission of claims to payroll for processing, and ensuring claims comply with Department circulars and entitlements, for staff who are on a payroll administered by the department. The OLCS feeds into the Department’s payroll systems and is not a stand-alone service. As Caretakers, Cleaners and Bus Escorts are grant funded and are paid directly by the Board of Management of the school with which they work, or by an ETB, the relevant school/ETB retains statutory responsibility for recording payment of wages and associated employee information such as absences.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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239. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will allow for special schools to receive a substitute teacher when a teacher takes self-certified sick leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36889/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s Circular Letter 0013/2024 details the agreed terms and conditions of the Sick Leave Scheme for primary and post primary teachers.

Regarding ‘Self-Certified Sick Leave’, the employer may appoint a substitute teacher paid by my Department, except for the first day of absence.

In a primary school with two or less mainstream teachers, the employer may appoint a substitute paid by my Department for the first day of a teacher’s absence on ‘Self-Certified Sick Leave’.

In any primary school, where two or more teachers are absent on the first day of ‘Self-Certified Sick Leave’, on the same day, the employer may appoint a substitute paid by my Department for the second and subsequent teachers.

In post primary schools, all ‘Self-Certified Sick Leave’ absences should be covered through the Supervision and Substitution Scheme as outlined in Circular 0006/2014: assets.gov.ie/13371/8d86870803ae4d92bc4363f209ccf13a.pdf#page=null

Any changes to the current substitution provision available to teachers would widen the scope of the current leave schemes in place and would be considered cost-increasing in nature.

The Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) forms part of the Scheme of Conciliation and Arbitration for Teachers, the purpose of which is to provide a forum for claims and proposals relating to the salary, and other terms and conditions of service for teachers. The Council is comprised of representatives from the Teacher Unions, the School Management Bodies, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and the Department of Education and Youth. The TCC is independently chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission.

It is currently not intended to amend the existing provisions covering 'Self-Certified Sick Leave'.