On Wednesday 30th April Fórsa SNAs brought their campaign to amend the Circular on assault at work to Leinster House. They were there to witness the launch of a Bill, brought forward by Senator Laura Harmon. 

The Education (Leave for Personal Injuries) Bill 2025 would establish standards for a scheme relating to leave for teachers and special needs assistants who are assaulted at work. 

The Bill was drafted in consultation with Fórsa and the INTO. 

Speaking at the launch Senator Harmon said: "This is about safety at work for staff and children. The reality is that our teachers and special needs assistants often work in challenging environments. When they experience an assault at work, the impact can be physical, emotional and long-lasting. 

“Most of these injuries are not the fault of children and do not have any malicious intent behind them but we need to ensure that teachers and SNAs are supported and receive the financial support they need." 

Fórsa NDNL SNA branch member Samantha O’Flanagan explained that SNAs know that most incidents arise because of a child’s unmet needs, communication difficulties, or a lack of appropriate supports, but she said the current Circular fails to reflect and support the complexity of the issues faced by SNAs and teachers in schools.  

She said: “Staff must be properly supported when incidents occur. The Department has a duty of care to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of school staff. This should never be compromised by budget constraints. SNAs and teachers must be paid for the full duration of any medically certified leave. We dedicate our lives to supporting children – we need the Department to show the same dedication to supporting staff.” 

The launch of the Bill was supported by a range of politicians from across the political spectrum.

A number of motions on this issue were passed at the Education Divisional conference, which took place in Galway in April. 

Speaking about the new Bill assistant general secretary Shane Lambert said: “This Bill is very welcome and brings to the fore many issues that Fórsa have raised on behalf of our members in recent years.  At our divisional conference two weeks ago, we released the findings of a survey which highlight how relevant this issue is to members.” 

“We want to see changes made to provisions in the Circular, that are unnecessarily restrictive and do not live up to the Circular’s intention to provide support to those who are injured.” 

“We also need to move away from the term assault.  We know that in many of the incidents, whilst they may involve contact between a child and the SNA, there was no intent to hurt or deliberately strike, therefore the incidents should not be classed as assault. Whilst assault may need to be encapsulated, as such incidents do arise on occasion, most incidents happen when a child becomes dysregulated and accidently strikes or knocks an SNA, without ever intending to do so.” 

“Our members develop strong bonds with the children they care for and they should not be forced to label something as an assault, when it clearly wasn’t the case.” 

Shane also explained that there are practical elements that must be addressed too, for example the tight timeframes on making an application can be an obstacle when injuries prevent the individual from submitting the application, and the need for flexibility around returning to work. 

The union is also calling for a provision that would allow an individual to resume assault leave if they have returned to work thinking they are fit, only to suffer a reoccurrence or a flair up of the original injury. He said: “We don’t believe any member should be out of pocket, whether that’s down salary or for medical expenses related to an injury that has been sustained in the line of duty.  It is as simple as that.” 

Shane concluded by underlining that a more considered approach to health and safety in schools could lead to a reduction in classroom incidents, which should be the ultimate collective goal for all those engaged on this issue.