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. Andy Pike:
David came up with this quote at our conference:
It is a reflection on what happens on your last day of employment in the school. On your last day of employment, you would see the teacher and the SNA retire with a bunch of flowers, a box of chocolates, good wishes and an appropriate public service pension based on their years of work. They walk out with their lump sum and access their pension.
When a caretaker or a secretary retire in that same school, the only thing they get is a bunch of flowers and a bottle of whiskey if they are lucky. They get nothing else.