Lower paid school staff are fearful of the possibility of homelessness following the removal of the eviction ban.
Linda O'Sullivan is a member of Forsa, a trade union which represents school staff such as SNAs and secretaries. She said that Forsa's members are often at the lower end of the pay scale and are being particularly affected by the cost of living crisis.
Forsa is hosting its annual education division conference in Portlaoise this week, which was attended by Minister for Education Norma Foley. Linda explained that inflation is taking its toll on school staff, especially as the housing crisis escalates.
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She told Dublin Live: "Some members are struggling to put fuel in their car to go to work by Friday morning. We're being impacted more than ever and we are concerned that a tsunami of Forsa members could be affected by the eviction ban."
Irish primary school union INTO also held their annual conference this week, where calls for a living allowance to help staff were brought forward. Linda said that Forsa would also like to see this grant come into effect and for it to be applied to lower paid workers.
She said: "We've special needs assistants all over the country but a huge number employed in Dublin. A measure like this would definitely benefit our members and help entice people back into the city."
Several other measures have also been discussed at Forsa's conference. There were calls for school secretaries to receive the same bereavement leave entitlements as special needs assistants, with their leave currently left to the discretion of school principals.
However, cost of living concerns formed a significant part of the discussions. Linda said that there seems to be no end in sight to rising costs and she is concerned about affording groceries and bills going forward.
Forsa's education conference will end today in Portlaoise. Members also called for more supports to be put in place for students with additional needs as they transitioned from secondary school to third level.
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