Mr. Paul Fiorentini:

The association is the representative body for the boards of management of 96 community and comprehensive schools providing a multi-denominational, inclusive and comprehensive education to more than 60,000 post-primary and further education students. Many of the 96 schools provide lifelong educational opportunities to approximately 25,000 adult learners in self-financing adult education programmes in the communities they serve. In many cases, school facilities are made available for local community use outside school hours and schools are encouraged to do so.

Prior to the introduction of the public sector moratorium, with effect from 27 March 2009, non-teaching staff positions such as clerical and maintenance staff were approved and allocated by the Department to community and comprehensive schools in accordance with the number of pupils enrolled as outlined in the table included in my submission. Since the imposition of the moratorium on appointments in the public service, community and comprehensive schools have been restricted to the appointment of positions to a maximum of one clerical officer and one caretaker. That has severely curtailed the ability of schools to provide the quality of service they require in their schools.

The ACCS appreciates the recent acknowledgement by the Minister for Education and Skills of the administrative burden on community and comprehensive schools, in particular for larger schools, in his relaxation of the moratorium with effect from 1 April 2019 for those schools with enrolments of 700 students or more. That will allow them to employ an additional clerical officer up to a maximum of two per school. This welcome alleviation is seen by the ACCS as an important first step in the restoration of essential posts in schools. A timeframe for the complete alleviation of the moratorium is now required.

In Cumasú, the Action Plan for Education 2019, action No. 74 commits to "support the operation of a high-quality school system through the annual provision of teaching and financial support." That is consistent with goal 3 of the previous Action Plan for Education, which stressed that: "Ongoing practical support to the key people in the education sector is vital if we are to realise the ambitious objectives that we have for Irish education".

The publication, School 2016, A Quality Framework for Post Primary Schools, rightly places an emphasis on the leadership of learning and teaching in schools. Goal 4 of Cumasú, the 2019 action plan, states, "We will intensify the relationships between education and the wider community, society and the economy." An open, welcoming, well maintained environment is fundamental to achieving this aim and clerical officers, caretakers and cleaners play an essential role in schools. It is also of interest that one of the indicators of pupil well-being is whether "the physical environment of the school is well kept and bright."

It is essential that we support school leaders with adequate clerical and maintenance personnel to ensure they can meet their requirements in leading learning and teaching for the benefit of all learners in schools.

During the moratorium, schools continue to grapple with significantly increased regulatory obligations in areas such as data protection and child protection. That has been accompanied by the introduction of the post-primary online database and the introduction of new financial reporting systems with the support of the financial support services unit, FSSU. Clerical officers are key to the delivery of those initiatives. Without adequate clerical officer support in those areas school management cannot deliver on their obligations. The additional workload is no longer sustainable.

With reductions in maintenance staff, facilities cannot be maintained to the required standards. The immediate is all that can be addressed and essential planned maintenance programmes are difficult if not impossible to implement. That is simply storing up potential problems which will ultimately require significant expenditure to correct. Adequate caretaking and cleaning personnel are essential to meet the State Claims Agency obligations outlined in Managing Health and Safety in Schools.

Many community and comprehensive schools provide access to facilities to their local communities outside of school time. This tradition will be potentially damaged due to the lack of availability of caretakers to open and maintain facilities.

Clerical and maintenance personnel provide loyal and dedicated service in schools throughout the country. It is time to ensure the required levels of staffing are restored to provide essential services in schools.