Special needs assistants to receive €1,100 pay boost after 16 years in the job

The top rate on their pay scale is set to rise from €41,090 to €42,190, following a ballot.

Just over 54pc of Fórsa’s SNA members backed a proposal to increase their maximum earnings.

It means an extra wage increment will be added to the top of their pay scale.

Those already at the top of the pay scale will get the increase immediately.

They opted for the additional pay point instead of a 1pc pay rise under the Building Momentum public sector pay deal.

It was negotiated under a sectoral bargaining mechanism in the wage agreement.

Fórsa head of education Andy Pike said negotiating an option to increase pay at the top of the SNA scale was the right thing to do.

He said their pay will now increase beyond the maximum of the clerical officer pay scale for the first time.

“It was also correct to ensure members had the final say in a ballot,” he said.

“Our members had the choice of accepting a higher maximum salary or taking the 1pc general pay increase. Backing the proposal to raise salaries at the top of the scale will raise maximum earnings and improve pension benefits.

“However, it is also clear that more should be done to improve starting pay for SNAs. The length of the scale means that many thousands will have to wait years before they access the new scale maximum due to the length of the current pay scale.”

He said SNAs have a starting salary of €25,102 a year, 41pc below average earnings of €41,912 a year.

“The outcome of this ballot should be seen as both an endorsement of the long-held view that our SNAs have been undervalued and underpaid, as well as a clear signal to the Government that public servants are worried about rising prices and the increase in their cost of living,” he said. “This has to be reflected in the next public service pay agreement which will be negotiated over the coming months.”

A sectoral bargaining fund – worth the equivalent of a 1pc pay rise – was set up to deal with outstanding adjudications, recommendations, awards and claims under Building Momentum.