Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013
82. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way new teachers will manage to gain the hours necessary to complete their probation if he radically reduces the substitute teaching hours available as a result of proposals included in the Croke Park 2 agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25497/13]
View answerThe revised proposals put forward by the Labour Relations Commission for the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-16 provide for additional time under the supervision and substitution scheme to be used in the following ways: from the start of the 2013-14 school year, for all uncertified sick leave absences in schools, subject to normal alleviation measures in schools; and from the start of the 2014-15 school year, for the first day of force majeure leave and illness in family leave. While these measures will reduce the overall use of substitute teachers, new teachers will still be able to gain the hours necessary to complete their period of probation in the normal manner. The public service trade unions are considering these proposals. I do not think that it would be helpful to this ongoing process for me to comment or elaborate on proposals which were carefully constructed by the LRC.
