Education (Leave for Injuries) Bill 2025: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-18 ============================================================ Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel Cuirim fíorfháilte chaoin roimh an Aire. Guím gach rath uirthi san obair thábhachtach atá os a comhair amach. I am delighted to be here on behalf of the Seanad Independent Group to register our full-throated support for the Bill that has been brought forward by the Labour Party Senators, in conjunction with their group. I supported the minimum wage for apprentices legislation before Christmas, another Bill brought forward by the Labour Party which did not get the same benign look from the Minister and the Department at the time. Nevertheless, it was earmarked for progress. It had all the hallmarks of very sensible proposed legislation and that is something it has in common with the Bill being brought by Senators Harmon and Cosgrove tonight. I feel that I am pushing at an open door here because there seems to be a rounded sense of support for this. It is, as the Minister said, based on fairness and equity. It has been receiving a lot of input from the two main trade unions, Fórsa and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, of which I a proud former member. I fully endorse the work they are doing in conjunction with the Members of the Seanad and the Minister and her Department. I could be here boiling cabbage twice. A lot of things people have said were addressed in the Minister's speech and I accept her bona fides. I think that she and the Department will work with the Seanad and the Labour Party Members and their grouping here to progress this very fair, reasoned, and timely proposed legislation. Back in the day, when I was teaching principal in County Waterford, these things did not happen at the school. In fact, in my whole teaching life, I never saw a teacher being assaulted by a child. However, it did happen on a few occasions when teachers in schools close to us were assaulted by a parent. The result is really just the same. It is an extremely traumatising situation. Not alone does it occasion physical harm, but there is huge evidence of post-traumatic stress syndrome. A person does not have to be in Angola or Vietnam to suffer that. People were injured in situations which they previously thought were perfectly safe, like a classroom, a playground, a corridor or a staffroom. To find that they are suddenly attacked, through absolutely no fault of their own, means that their status as a professional is undermined and weakened. The impact it has on the psyche of a teacher as they try to return to normal teaching and normal supports in the classroom can very demanding. That really is the essence and the basis of this proposed legislation. It is there to make our system better, to be compassionate, to look after the children who have difficulties, and to look after the welfare and the strength of the main prime actors who bolster our education system, namely, the teaching and support staff in schools. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-18