Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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502. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions she will take to address an anomaly related to circular 54/2019; if a teacher has moved schools in the past 12-months, regardless of previous employment status or length of tenure, they cannot qualify for carer’s leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63754/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Carer’s Leave Scheme is regulated by the Carer’s Leave Act 2001, as amended.

The terms and conditions of the Carer's Leave Scheme for teachers are outlined in Chapter 6 of my Department's Circular 0054/2019 titled ‘Leave Schemes for Registered Teachers employed in Recognised Primary and Post-Primary Schools’. Under section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012) the board of management is the employer of teachers, SNAs and other staff of the school. In the case of community national schools, the ETB is the employer and not the board of management

Under the terms of the circular, a teacher may apply for Carer’s Leave where he/she has satisfactorily completed one year’s continuous service with the current employer. This requirement is waived where a teacher is compulsorily redeployed into a school or where a school is amalgamated provided that he/she has worked at least one full year in his/her former school prior to redeployment/amalgamation.

As the scheme is regulated by the Carer’s Leave Act 2001, as amended, it is not within the remit of the Department of Education and Youth to amend the eligibility criteria set out in the Act.