Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise for only arriving now but I was next door at the children committee which was meeting with Tusla. These are all really important issues so my timing is perfect, if I do say so myself.

I presume everyone here is very supportive of the witnesses and their cause. Unfortunately, we are at this point. We seem to be at this point every time there is a campaign for fairness. It is a stereotype and a generalisation but the majority of school secretaries are female. They are presumably women who are trying to strike a good work-life balance, whose kids may be or were in the school. What are the views of the witnesses on that? Do they believe that is a factor as to why it has taken so long to agree this?

My second question - and it is not a criticism of the witnesses - relates to the strategy for these discussions and negotiations. They always seem to start with pay, in that that becomes the template and then you go for pensions. Can that be addressed from Fórsa's side? What can we do to address it from Government's side? When the union members get some of their conditions improved, surely it is short-lived joy because the next thing another knock and blow comes their way. They are undervalued and under-appreciated and presumably that is why we see strike action. Is it literally just strategy that makes Fórsa go piecemeal after these things or how can we help the witnesses address that?