Special needs assistants are being denied equal health and safety leave provision while pregnant. They are given just 21 days' leave if deemed at risk in the work environment. This means they have to use other leave to compensate for long-term absence if they encounter risk in the early stages of pregnancy. Contagious diseases are more common in younger children and these diseases are considered a threat to babies' health.

Considering the potential risk posed to SNAs – there is a greater risk of injury given the physical element – there is a clear disparity between the provisions afforded to teachers and those afforded to SNAs, the workers who may need to rely on health and safety leave to a greater extent. According to Fórsa, any policy in this regard should be indiscriminative and provision should be afforded equally to all pregnant staff, not based on grade or role. Will the Tánaiste ensure equal workplace safety standards across all roles? We need to ensure that the Government puts supports in place for employees to assist them with regard to their leave entitlements.

SNAs work with children with a range of care needs, many of whom exhibit extremely challenging behaviour that requires full-time help. I would be the first to say a lot of good work has been done in education. There are more teachers and SNAs, there is early intervention, and children's problems are being diagnosed early. A couple of weeks ago, I dealt with the case of a young mother expecting her first child who had been in her job for a couple of years. She absolutely loves her job but she has been bitten, kicked and thumped. A couple of weeks ago, she was viciously attacked all of a sudden and has been off work. Now she has to pay for herself, which is very unfair. To me, teaching and providing special needs assistance are vocations and both should be treated the same.

The conditions must be improved. It is in the Tánaiste's power to look after the SNAs, who deserve better treatment. As a former teacher, the Tánaiste will know that, over the past number of years, SNAs have benefited from many of the same opportunities afforded to teachers. The Employment Permits Bill 2022 was cornered with domestic violence. Many teachers and SNAs were victims of domestic violence and now that has been looked after. With regard to breastfeeding, teachers and SNAs now have the same entitlements. Good work is being done by SNAs. Half the schools in the country do not have enough SNAs. It is important that we get the right people. People have gone back to school, got educated, gained experience and have done everything needed to become an SNA. Parents who come to my constituency office, including those with autistic children, want to know their children will get full-time care and be looked after properly by SNAs when they go to school. Could the Tánaiste please look after the SNAs?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. When I was Minister for Education in 1998, I took a decision and brought a related memorandum to the Cabinet providing for the employment of SNAs for the first time in mainstream schools. It was a watershed decision and I can recall how dubious Department of Finance officials were about my protestations to the effect that the measure would be modest. This view was dashed a year later when the estimate I had helpfully provided to the officials more than doubled. Today we have 21,000 SNAs. I do not mean to jest as this is an important point. The officials were right because they saw what was coming. It was a good thing. The position has changed over the years, and the system has been modernised and professionalised. There is now a career pathway. The provision of special needs assistance is essential for special needs children and it has allowed for a radical change in special education in that the vast majority of children with special needs are in mainstream education, whether in special classes or mainstream classes. SNAs also operate very effectively in special schools.

The Deputy has raised a very important point. An SNA is entitled to a full salary for the first 21 days while on health and safety leave. Based on an SNA's PRSI contributions, he or she may be entitled to health and safety benefits from the Department of Social Protection where their health and safety leave extends beyond 21 days. The board of management has a fundamental role here. It is obliged to assess any specific risk in the workplace to an SNA and to ensure a pregnant SNA is not exposed to any process or working conditions that would damage either the safety or health of the pregnant SNA or the safety and health of the developing child. I understand that, in special contexts in special education, such a risk can arise. However, where a risk has been identified and it is not possible to remove it, protective and preventive measures should be taken to safeguard the health of any SNA to whom the provisions apply, such as a temporary adjustment in the working environment so exposure to the risk is avoided, or in the event that such adjustment is not possible, the moving of the SNA to suitable alternative work that does not entail the risk, or in the event that such alternative work is not available and having consulted and received certification from the occupational health service, granting the SNA health and safety leave. Health and safety leave will cease when the SNA concerned commences maternity leave or the risk itself ceases.

I am aware that, in 2021, Fórsa submitted a claim for increased health and safety leave for SNAs that could not be considered at that stage under the terms of Building Momentum. I am not clear whether it was referred to the WRC but a full review of the SNA contract is currently being carried out by a working group on SNA recruitment as part of the work on the SNA workforce development plan.

SNAs are given 21 days' leave if deemed to be at risk in the work environment. Teachers and SNAs should be treated the same and I do not want to see any disparity. Providing special needs assistance is a vocation, as far as I am concerned. Tomorrow at my constituency office, there will be queues of people looking for facilities for their children. When a child goes to school and is looked after on a full-time basis by an SNA, that SNA should be looked after. Am I to tell the young mother I spoke to that I spoke to the Tánaiste in the House and got no relief?

All SNAs want is to get the same respect as a teacher. They go back to school and do a bit of study. The young girl to whom I referred has been bitten, kicked and punched. Such people come into my constituency office and have no complaints whatsoever. They are there to help the children and everything else. All they are looking for is the same respect as teachers get. The Tánaiste, as a former teacher, must realise the amount of good work that SNAs do. I ask him to do whatever is in his power. I ask him to give me some kind of response so I can go back to these people who want to be SNAs. As I said, half the schools in the country cannot get enough SNAs. If they feel as if they are not being looked after, how are we going to get the right people to become SNAs?

I acknowledge the sincerity with which the Deputy has approached this matter. That he comes across situations such as these is evidence of his diligence at constituency level. This is not the first case about which he has articulated concern due to his diligence on the ground. I indicated that a full review of the SNA contract is on the way as part of the SNA workforce development plan. That working group will examine all aspects of the duties and responsibilities of SNAs and how they interact with the school community. All of the stakeholders involved, including management bodies and the Fórsa trade union, which represents SNAs, are on that working group. It will also consider the challenges related to the role and make recommendations as to how they may be addressed.

A redeployment scheme for SNAs will be established in consultation and collaboration with stakeholders. It will run initially on a pilot basis and may give opportunities in the future to deal with the issues the Deputy has outlined. I will engage again with the Ministers on the basis of the Deputy's advocacy but work is under way.