Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 July 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth

Pension Parity and Working Conditions for School Secretaries and Caretakers: Fórsa

2:00 am

Mr. David Hearne:

There are caretakers around the country who go into the job and after two years say they cannot do it any more because they are not getting paid for the summer holidays or Christmas holidays, so they go off and find different jobs. At the moment, working in Aldi is better paid than being a school caretaker. Take the hours we do in schools. You might be contracted for a 39-hour week. Over the last six weeks, because of the summer holidays coming along, with teachers coming in and changing classrooms etc., my average week was averaging between 45 to 50 hours -----