Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations. It is a worthwhile exercise for members of the committee to hear about the issues at first hand. As the Chairman said, school secretaries and caretakers are vital members of the team. If a team has a weakness, that affects the overall performance, and it is no different in this case. Mr. Duffy made a good point about the audit and I would like to hear the Department's thoughts on that. Before we can try to find a proper resolution to this, we have to know the extent of it, and the only way we can get a grasp of that is by having an audit. Was an audit in this regard ever carried out? Do we have an idea of the numbers involved in each sector?

Ms Carton said in her statement that this was examined and an agreement was reached by both sides on pay increases. Have the other issues of holiday pay and sick pay been considered at all? What is the position on that? Until we get to a point where all school staff are treated equally, and currently that is not the case, we will continue to have a problem. The Department must take over responsibility for the payment of all ancillary staff so there can be fair play. I have encountered many such staff who are on as little as €13,000 per annum. They are forced to sign on during the school holiday period, and if they are sick they get no payment. That is not good enough. It is not fair to the individuals involved in the first place and, indeed, to the school community, be it the colleagues they work with or the parents of pupils attending the school.

I look forward to the responses to my questions.