To ask why TA’s in uk are paid so little compared to Irish counterparts?

[Positivenancy]

Just as the title says…SNA’s in Ireland are paid a starting salary of over 27k. Why are they only receiving 12-15k in the uk!! It’s terrible!

I would argue that that is the expectation of the TAs in England too. Well in all the schools I've worked in.

Cost of living is high in Ireland. Houses are very expensive. We live and hour from Dublin and most new builds are starting at 350k. These would be 3bed semis. They then go up accordingly.

I think TAs are paid so little in the UK as it bore out of having unpaid helpers at primary schools in an increasingly official capacity who then began to get paid, and then began to require qualifications, and during times and in places where mother's of primary school age children were not expected or even able to work beyond very sought after school time only shifts, mostly in supermarkets.

And then as it became qualified and more demanding child and working tax credits came in which topped it up, along with child and housing benefit so the take home pay was probably pretty similar to a NQT even though the hours are much less and the responsibility a fraction

Our school days are from 9-4 , 9 classes a day. But that doesn't include the hours of planning and correcting afterwards. Our holidays are decent though. June to the end of August.

Our secondary schools are 8 hours long in Ireland. 9-4

In the UK the job is paid for the hours worked (about 25/30 a week?) for 39 weeks and 5.6 weeks statutory minimum annual leave, so 44.6 weeks per year.

But I believe its paid in equal amounts across the whole year so people receive something every month, rather than being paid for what they earn in term time and nothing in the summer. Also I think the summer break in Ireland is longer than our 6 weeks?

However people wouldn't be able to sign on in the summer as they'd have to spend 35 hours a week looking for work and be available to take a job, which they likely wouldn't be able to do as the job is mainly done by parents who want to be able to look after their own school age DC in the holidays. Also even if they did, they'd only get about £80 pw in benefits.

Tax isn't higher in Ireland by the time you factor in council tax and water charges in England.

There is no excuse.

Per hour TAS are paid less than those working in Lidl. I do 30 hours a week and take home just over £1k a month. There is no progression. We work with the most vulnerable and often the most challenging children overseeing,planning and delivering IEPs and EHCPs alongside often MH support and other responsibilities.Many of us are well qualified and many are ex teachers.Our work enables the curriculum to be delivered to everyone.

I’m glad those in Ireland get paid that what they should but think it’s a scandal that those in the UK don’t. The DofE will know what we do and how crucial the role is but have been happy for the stereotypical view of us being a mums army of paint pot washers to prevail.

The population of Ireland is 5 million, the population of England is about 60 million so raising public service wages is expensive due to numbers. Ireland has US companies like Amazon paying tax there so are doing very well at the moment.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been an expectation in the schools I’ve worked in or have knowledge of, although it certainly should be. Schools, MATs etc can set their own levels, which leads to huge variation in the quality of support.

Irish GDP is massively inflated due to the presence of Apple and the like. Cost of living is insane compared to here (and I’m in one of the most expensive parts of the UK).

Where do you get that salary? Dh is l3/l4, full time, 2 days teaching and cover supervisor when required. 12years experience. Earns 15k.

It is the expectation in all the schools I’ve worked in as a teacher and a TA. If TAs are planning for and delivering IEPs, EHCPs alongside working with the most challenging and vulnerable children as they do in the UK expectations are surely high.

Our hours are shorter 9-120 the. 9-220 in primary. Secondary is 9-320. Dublin schools.

Because everyone in the U.K. is paid less than they would be for the same job in Ireland. The U.K. is a low wage economy. Unfortunately it’s not a low cost economy.

My Aunt in Ireland had to pay several hundred euros per night when being treated for cancer. Once they decided nothing more they could do, she was moved to a palliative care pathway and her health insurance didn't cover this, they only covered her whilst on active treatment. However she wasn't stable enough to do the hour journey from Dublin to home, so my uncle had to pay I think around €400per night for a week, plus pay for an ambulance to bring her home. And that was on top of the many thousands he pays per year for their health insurance.

And the cost of living is much higher, when we go visit we are shocked at how much food is in the supermarkets, the same item in Tesco there vs Tesco here could be double.

We’re talking FTE salary.

Bet TAs in Ireland aren’t paid less than those there working in Lidl though.

Was there a pay scale increase this year? Those pay scales look higher than what's been quoted. I didn't think SNAs had to sign on for the school holidays unless they are just subbing, can you confirm if that's the case, I thought they like teachers had their hourly wage spread over the 12 months.
Are TAs unionised? SNAs are, and that's a big part of why their conditions have improved over the years

Exactly this! UK and ireland economies and cost of living are not comparable.

Look at other jobs and you see the same pattern.
Qualified heath care professionals start on a much higher salary.
Benefits are higher (e.g. unemployment benefit is approx 200e/week).

I would suggest he’s significantly underpaid. I was a TA for 7 years with no relevant qualifications and was earning £18100 for a 32.5 hour week. HLTAs earn considerably more. Pretty much all schools in my area follow the Green book for pay and benefits.

In the the last 2 years alone we received approx 3k payrise - did your husband not get that?

Is he doing 30 or 32.5 hours a week? It makes a big difference.

I’m Irish and a secondary school teacher (although now working in a different area now ). I have worked in the uk for years to teaching . One major thing in Ireland even now is that there are so, so much fewer jobs in education here , way less permanent contracts It’s actually quite shocking the difference. Only in Dublin there’s a shortage possibly as it’s so expensive to live there . I could work anywhere and got every job I applied for in the uk.
Im sure some Irish people might dispute this but nepotism is still huge here , particularly for jobs in education. I know a highly qualified teacher (specialism in asd ) who couldn’t get a job as an sna here (she wanted the job as she’s good at it , highly experienced and the hours suit) as she isn’t well connected. SNAs here don’t necessarily have more qualifications here at all, actually it can be even just a part-time over a year qqi level 6 course, even less as a minimum maybe..
In my entire , large county in the very south of Ireland there’s 10 jobs being advertised on our main education jobs website, this is in a very large county with hundreds of schools…… there are many teachers in my dcs schools who are related…and it because it’s a small area!!
Sorry to go off subject but SNAs are not more qualified here, Ireland is a lot more expensive than the UK in general , we have to pay 60 euros to go to GP etc etc so the salaries have to reflect that and there’s not a lot of work here in education particularly no permanent contracts @except if you live in Dublin. That’s just my experience and many of my friends who are teachers also..

Apologies for typos and mistakes !!

@Anxiety1234 I agree a hundred percent. I lived in the UK and having free GP care and free prescriptions was amazing . I had to go to the gp in Ireland recently-basic issue and the visit was 60 euros and prescription 14 so €74 euros gone in an hour whereas free in the UK..
The salaries have to reflect this here. Also in the UK (due to council tax I think, which wasn’t that expensive) you can access public pools , facilities for a lot less. We have a “public” pool here where I live in Ireland and it’s €7 per child …is that even subsidised?? I think people may assume it’s the same costs in the UK and Ireland but there’s a big difference here tbh so
your money just doesn’t go far.

I was in London recently and I found food in supermarkets cheaper than here in Ireland!! There’s a big difference in the cost of living here!