Fórsa has outlined several important issues to be addressed as formal discussions progress on the review of the SNA contract.

Following on from the initial contract review meeting in October, the union made a submission to the Department with details of the items it would like to see properly addressed.

In its submission, Fórsa said it believed there was no longer any legitimate rationale to retain the current model of the SNA redundancy scheme and subsequent model of allocations.

The union said SNAs endured hardships, angst and difficulty year on year, while waiting for the allocations to be announced and figure out whether they have a job for the coming year.

“The pain has been further exasperated by the announcement on allocations becoming later and later, leading to significant frustration and stress. This is likely to be particularly pronounced now that we have had to contend with several years where allocations were frozen on foot of the pandemic,” the union’s document stated.

Fórsa maintains that the current allocation system is no longer fit for purpose and it would like to see a robust transfer scheme put in place.

Fórsa official Shane Lambert who is leading these discussions for the union said this would allow an SNA who is deemed to be no longer required in the location they are presently employed, to transfer to another school within a particular geographical radius, without the need for further interview or to recommence their employment status again as schools are associated employers, with the Department as the common paymaster.

Shane pointed to such a system already being in place in ETBs without any issue at all.

Further, the union said it was essential to also review the minimum education qualification for SNA’s to properly conduct a robust review of the contract.

“When any employer is designing a contract, the spine or core of that process will be based on the qualifications required for the role and the level of responsibility it holds”, Fórsa said in its submission.

The qualifications have not been reviewed in some 43 years, having been set in 1979. But special education and the roles and responsibilities of an SNA have evolved exponentially since.

Shane said the outdated qualification fails to appropriately reflect the role and responsibilities of staff supporting children with special educational needs.

“Consistent recruitment evidence demonstrates that the reality is schools recruit SNAs with much greater qualifications than the current minimum entry requirements. We believe it imperative for this to be completed as part of the review, to ensure the viability of any outcome.

“The qualification and the contract must appropriately reflect the complexities of the role and the responsibilities it holds, going forward and it is impossible to do either in isolation,” he said.

Fórsa also said there was a serious need to tighten and clarify the provisions in the contract regarding appropriate work.

The union said it was all too common to receive reports of SNAs being asked to undertake duties that are not appropriate to the role of the SNA.

Separately, Fórsa also asked for a clarification to be made on break times for SNAs, the union says the existing contract is ambiguous and does not specify how the terms of the Organisation of Working Time Act will be met.

Shane said this creates difficulty in workplaces where SNAs receive less break entitlements than teaching colleagues and are openly treated unfairly.

“SNAs are public servants and should not be precluded from benefits enjoyed by colleagues across the wider public service,” he said.

The union said while it will present the best-case arguments for all the issues outlined and try to get commitments to address them, the discussions have to be realistic and don’t necessarily mean a positive outcome is guaranteed.

The union will be issuing the comprehensive submission to branches in the near future. The full document outlines the entire range of issues officials have raised in these initial discussions.

Further updates will also be issued to members as these talks progress.