Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to the issue of additional staffing, which was mentioned. There are three categories of workers in the school community who I think often feel very undervalued. They are caretakers, particularly those who are on a caretaker's grant, school secretaries and special needs assistants, SNAs. If there is any call for additional employment in schools, we have to make sure we do not further reduce the morale of those in the three categories to which I referred.

In comparison to teachers, they feel like they are the ones who are often left out in terms of pay and conditions.