Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 November 2025
431. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth the provision her Department is making to ensure that schools are fully staffed in situations where school staff on approved forms of leave for example, job share accrue an entitlement to time off in lieu as a result of attending mandatory child protection training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64933/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraChild protection training is mandatory. All school staff who are employed directly by the school should, where possible, attend the child protection whole school training, this includes caretakers, secretaries, bus escorts, SNAs and teachers. It is the responsibility of boards of management to ensure that all school personnel attend appropriate child protection training and retain a record of this training.
Staff who are unable to attend the whole school training, will be provided with an opportunity to attend training, which may be online. Schools may wish to make their own arrangements for staff to attend training outside of their normal scheduled hours.
Where a staff member is unable to attend, absences should be managed in line with a school’s absence management policy. Schools may consider using provisions such as the Croke Park Hours for teachers and the 72 Hours for SNAs (pro-rata for part-time SNAs), which may be used towards training and Continuous Professional Development.
