*Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF). Photograph: Éamon Ward
CLARE Council members are calling on the Department of Education to review and amend Special Needs Assistants’ (SNA) Health & Safety Leave entitlements.
At the Clare County Council January meeting on Monday, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) called a motion ensuring SNAs’ full parity with teachers, asking for SNAs to remain on full Departmental pay up to the commencement of maternity leave, where a workplace risk has been identified.
At present, when a pregnant teacher is removed from work due to a workplace risk, she remains on full pay. However, “an SNA is placed on reduced income, using hundreds of euros a month to protect her unborn child”, explained Bashua. “This is just not fair.”
In her motion, Bashua asked, “That Clare County Council urgently call on the Department of Education to review and amend SNA Health & Safety Leave entitlements, so as to ensure full parity with teachers and to guarantee that Special Needs Assistants can remain on full Departmental pay up to the commencement of maternity leave where a workplace risk has been identified, recognising their essential role in supporting children with additional needs and ensuring fair and equitable treatment in the workplace.”
She continued, “This policy places financial pressure on SNAs to remain in an unsafe work environment.” “SNAs serve the same; this is not about special treatment,” she added, saying that all she is asking for is equality amongst the two roles. “Anything else is an injustice.”
Seconded by Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF), he said, “I want to welcome the call for equal work. When you are doing the same job but specialised, you should have the same pay.”
The “backbone” of schools, called so by Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG), pregnant SNAs rely on Departmental pay, especially in cases where there are “issues” and the SNA is required to leave work prior to maternity leave. Bashua agreed, adding that current guidelines are “basically saying that your child is less than someone else’s.”
Bashua has been vocal about SNA rights in the past. At the Council Monthly Meeting in October, she called for the immediate redrafting of the NCSE’s SNA Review Guidelines, the removal of all non-essential paperwork requirements, and the publication of the revised Assault Leave Circular, as well as an emergency meeting with the NCSE.
Thanking the Council for their support, Bashua wrapped up the motion by stating, “I know for a fact that teachers feel the same way. You should remain on the same pay.”
