To ask the Minister of Education to outline the support measures in place for substitute teachers with school-age dependents, that are unable to work due to childcare responsibilities resulting from their child having to self-isolate at home after COVID-19 close contact in school.

The Department of Education is not the employer of teachers and does not intervene in employment matters. Teachers are employed by the Board of Governors (BoG) for each school setting, with HR matters carried out in conjunction with the relevant employing authority e.g. the Education Authority for controlled schools or the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools for maintained schools. In the case of Voluntary Grammars, the BoG is both the employer and the employing authority.

In the case of substitute teachers, it is the principal of the individual school who decides the circumstances in which to engage a substitute teacher (using the NISTR system) and how long the engagement is expected to last. Substitute teachers are only employed temporarily during periods that they are teaching in schools.

An Income Support Scheme for Substitute Teachers was introduced to support substitute teachers during April to June 2020 and again in January to March 2021. The purpose of each scheme was to alleviate any potential hardship due to the sudden loss of opportunity to work during the periods of school closure to all but vulnerable pupils and key workers’ children. Each scheme ended when schools reopened and a normal demand for the services of substitute teachers resumed; there are no plans for any further scheme. There is no other facility to provide payment for substitute teachers when they are not working in schools.

It was decided from the outset of the pandemic that all employees will receive normal pay across the range of circumstances that we are facing whether they remain in the workplace, are working from home or are unable to carry on working due to circumstances beyond their control. Schools should continue to honour existing bookings of substitute teachers impacted by unforeseen Covid-19 issues so that they receive their normal pay during the period of their engagement.