To ask the Minister of Education whether his Department will create a register for non-teaching staff, similar to the Northern Ireland Supply Teacher Register.

A bid for funding to enable the development of a register for non-teaching staff, equivalent to the Northern Ireland Supply Teacher Register (NISTR), is one of a number of proposals for digital transformation currently being considered by the interim Public Sector Transformation Board.

The proposal is to establish a digital system to enable schools and the Education Authority to search for support staff available in a particular area and engage them in work.

To allow for a strategic, system-wide approach to digital transformation, the interim Public Sector Transformation Board has recommended that a digital landscape review be undertaken to facilitate collective consideration of all such bids. This work is expected to be finalised by the end of this year and will enable further progress to be made on the digital proposals received.