School Staff

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2018

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Questions (254)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

254. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of secondary school teaching staff placed on administrative leave from 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018; the duration of each administrative leave; the costs incurred to facilitate the placing of teachers on administrative leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44663/18]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

Administrative Leave is a temporary leave of absence, with pay, which may be granted where it is necessary for a teacher to be absented from work in order to carry out an investigation. It may only be granted in limited situations where the continued presence of a teacher has the potential to present an on-going risk such as situations concerning child protection, serious misconduct or fraud. The cost of the substitute teacher is borne by my Department.

Thirteen Post Primary teachers were placed on Administrative Leave from 2013 to 2017 and two teachers in 2018 to date.

Please see attachment for details regarding duration of each case and substitution costs.

Each case and its duration is set out in the following table:

Year placed	Case	Duration	Status
2013	Teacher A	679 days	completed
	Teacher B	511 days	completed
	Teacher C	14 days	completed
	Teacher D	313 days	completed
	Teacher E	229 days	completed
	Teacher F	579 days	completed
2014	Nil	n/a	n/a
2015	Teacher G	228 days	completed
	Teacher H	716 days	completed
	Teacher I	110 days	completed
2016	Teacher J	40 days	completed
	Teacher K	14 days	completed
2017	Teacher L	93 days	completed
	Teacher M	381 days	ongoing
2018	Teacher N	205 days	ongoing
	Teacher O	65 days	ongoing
Total	15	4177

* The substitution costs below are estimated on the basis of the “new entrant” casual daily rate of pay for substitute teachers multiplied by the number of working days they were employed to replace a teacher on administrative leave.

Year	Estimated substitution costs*
2013	€85,171
2014	€105,924
2015	€41,600
2016	€42,773
2017	€33,636
2018	€51,691 (to 26/10/18)

Figures for Post Primary teachers employed by Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and placed on administrative leave are not readily available in my Department and are not included in the above tables.