Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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1171. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the legal, contractual or other basis upon which her Department decided not to implement, or to withdraw, the local bargaining measures agreed in respect of special needs assistants following the recent ballots; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55547/26]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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1172. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the specific clause or provision in any public service agreement, local bargaining agreement, collective agreement, memorandum, circular or other written instrument which made implementation of the agreed local bargaining measures for special needs assistants conditional upon acceptance of the workforce development plan. [55548/26]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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1173. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason special needs assistants were asked to vote separately on the local bargaining proposal where implementation of that proposal was subsequently deemed to be dependent on the outcome of a separate ballot on the workforce development plan; and whether this conditionality was communicated clearly to members before the ballots took place. [55549/26]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1121, 1171, 1172 and 1173 together.

Chapter 4 of the outgoing Public Service Agreement (PSA) 2024–2026 provides for Local Bargaining, a mechanism through which employers and trade unions may agree changes to structures, work practices and conditions of service in return for an agreed local bargaining payment.

A key part of the local bargaining process, agreed between the Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER) and the Public Services Committee of ICTU, is that parties at sectoral level agree reform measures known as ‘management priorities’ in return for payment of agreed local bargaining claims. It is a matter for each individual union to decide to ballot its members on any matter, including the agreed outcomes of local bargaining negotiations. My Department has no involvement in decisions taken by a trade union to ballot of its members on local bargaining matters.

The department recently responded to Fórsa’s letter outlining the outcome of their consultation ballot on the Special Needs Assistant Workforce Development Plan and Local Pay Bargaining Offer. In that response the Department confirmed it remains committed to constructive engagement with Fórsa and is available to engage in relation to these matters.