New rules on school cover free up €25m
The head of the department yesterday said claims for uncertified sick leave had “gone down quite significantly”.
Claims had fallen by 28% in primary schools and 38% in post-primary schools in the last school year.
Restrictions were put in place from January on the level of supervision and substitution cover each school could pay for inrespect of uncertified sick leave or absences by teachers on school business. This also applied to sports or curricular activities such as field trips and theatre or art gallery visits.
Department secretary general Brigid McManus yesterday told an Oireachtas Committee: “It was a very significant change that may raise questions.”
Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming claimed previously the sick leave had been treated like a “blank cheque” by schools.
Mr Fleming suggested the huge fall in uncertified sick claims was because “abuses” in the system had been rooted out.
“Was the system wide open up until now,” he asked.
A breakdown released by the department at the committee meeting showed savings of:
* €2m on substitution for career break development in primary and post primary schools.
* €13m on official school business in post primary schools.
* €9.5m on uncertified sick leave in post primary schools and €5.5m on uncertified sick leave in primary schools.
The department said it had given €5m out of the saved funds back to schools to help ease restrictions when the scheme was tightened this year.
Elsewhere, the Public Accounts Committee heard there was a wide variation in the number of senior positions in colleges and universities. The number of vice presidents differed in the colleges including in University College Dublin (8), University College Cork (5), NUI Galway (4), Dublin City University (2), NUI Maynooth (1) Trinity College Dublin (1), University College Limerick (1).
TDs voiced concern about the lack of regulation of high positions and the lack of clarity around college contracts.
Lecturers work a minimum 16 hours a week in institute of technologies but there are no set hours in universities. Labour’s Roisín Shortall said: “It’s quite clear those working in the third-level sector are a law unto themselves.”
