Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012
199. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide the background to the maternity leave in lieu arrangements for teachers that he is proposing to abolish in 2013; the number of teachers that will be affected in a calendar year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56370/12]
View answer209. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to his statement following Budget 2013, if it is his intention to reduce entitlement of teachers and special needs assistants to maternity leave-in-lieu arrangements; if it is his intention to eliminate all entitlements to such maternity leave-in-lieu arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56449/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 199 and 209 together.
Under previous arrangement teachers and SNAs who had been absent on maternity leave could avail of a maximum of 30 additional paid absence days in lieu of any school closures which overlapped with the 26 week period of maternity leave to which they were entitled. Teachers and SNAs who had been absent on statutory unpaid maternity leave could also avail of leave in lieu for public holidays which occurred during that period.
These additional days, which were taken during a period when the school was open, required the school to employ a substitute teacher or SNA to cover the absence at considerable cost to the taxpayer.
Statistics are normally provided by my Department on a school year basis and, for the 2011/12 school year, 2378 teachers and 294 Special Needs Assistants availed of maternity leave in lieu.
The Government has decided it is no longer justifiable to provide additional paid days off for those on maternity leave and this arrangement has been ended. This will not affect a teacher or SNA's entitlements to 26 weeks' paid leave and an optional 16 weeks' unpaid maternity leave.
A similar change has been made to adoptive leave in lieu.
I am conscious that teachers may be already planning their maternity leave arrangements and I have given the sector as much notice as possible before implementing this change. It will take effect from 1 May 2013, and will deliver savings of up to €20m in a full year. Days in lieu of maternity leave will not be accrued on and from 1 May 2013 but any remaining leave in lieu on that date may be taken after it.
My alternative choice in this Budget was to increase the pupil-teacher ratio for all mainstream schools and I decided to retain the existing ratio in order to avoid having larger class sizes for our children.
