Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that secretaries and caretakers are an integral part our schools. We need to work with them to make sure they are supported in the work they do. Any changes to terms and conditions, including pensions, would have to be agreed by the Department of public expenditure because it is connected to public sector pay agreements. Any of those negotiations have to come through the Department. Any decisions taken come through the budget. The Deputy will see from the allocation that we have here a huge amount of that is not just pay, but it is pensions as well. That is negotiated through the Department of public expenditure and the public sector pay agreements.