Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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231. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views regarding the disparity in the health and safety leave policy between pregnant teachers and SNAs in special schools. [49337/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007) place an obligation on the employer, as soon as it is notified by the special needs assistant that she is pregnant, to assess any specific risk in the workplace to that special needs assistant and to ensure that the pregnant, post-natal, or breastfeeding special needs assistant is not exposed to any agents, processes or working conditions that will damage either the safety or health of the pregnant special needs assistant and/or that of the developing child.

The special needs assistant should be informed of the results of the risk assessment and the measures to be taken. The detailed arrangement regarding the respective responsibilities of the employer and the special needs assistant in relation to health and safety leave are contained in Sections 17 – 20 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994.

Where a risk has been identified and it is not possible to remove it, protective and preventive measures should be taken to safeguard the health of any special needs assistant to whom the provisions apply, such as:

(a) a temporary adjustment in the working environment of the special needs assistant concerned so that exposure to the risk is avoided, or

(b) in the event that such adjustment is not possible, by moving the special needs assistant to suitable alternative work which does not entail the risk, or

(c) in the event that such alternative work is not available, and having consulted with and received certification from the OHS, by granting the special needs assistant health and safety leave.

Health and Safety Leave will cease when:

(a) the special needs assistant concerned commences maternity leave, or

(b) the special needs assistant is no longer an employee to whom Part III of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 applies (i.e. she notifies the employer that she is not pregnant, has not given birth within the last fourteen weeks or is not within 26 weeks of the birth and breastfeeding, as defined in the Act); or

(c) the risk ceases.

Currently SNAs are entitled to full salary for the first 21 days while on Health and Safety Leave. This is a statutory entitlement and is noted in . After 21 days, an SNA may be entitled to Health and Safety benefit from the Department of Social Protection, subject to certain eligibility criteria.

Fórsa have submitted a claim to my Department for an increase in the provision of Health and Safety Leave for SNA’s. However, the terms of the current Public Service Pay agreement, which covers the period from the 1st of January 2024 to the 30th of June 2026, set out that the parties to the agreement agreed that no cost increasing claims for improvements in pay terms and conditions of employment will be initiated or implemented for the duration of the Agreement. As such, the claim made by Fórsa is prohibited under the terms of the current pay agreement.

Under the terms of the Agreement, employers and trade unions/associations may negotiate additional changes in rates of pay and/or conditions of employment up to a maximum of 3% of the basic pay cost, inclusive of allowances in the nature of pay, of the particular grade, group or category of employee or bargaining unit. This may include proposals involving changes in structures, work practices or other conditions of service. However, Fórsa have not sought to have changes to the Maternity Health and Safety Leave Scheme for SNAs considered under this provision.