Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for this question about an issue that is close to my heart. While in opposition I highlighted the important role played by school secretaries. As somebody who worked in a secondary school, I realise the burden they are under and the important role they play. I recognise the very important work done by them and other support staff in the running of schools and I am grateful to them for the contribution they make to the education system. I have spoken to a number of school secretaries about their employment conditions.

Schemes were initiated in 1978 and 1979 for the employment of clerical officers and caretakers in schools. The schemes were withdrawn completely in 2008. They have been superseded by the more extensive capitation grant schemes. The current grant scheme was agreed to in the context of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress which was published in 1991. The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools now receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under the grant schemes. It is a matter for each individual school to decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs. Where a school uses the grant funding for caretaking or secretarial purposes, staff taken on to support these functions are employees of individual schools. Specific responsibility for pay and conditions rests with the school.

On foot of a chairman's note to the Lansdowne Road agreement, my Department engaged with the unions representing school secretaries and caretakers, including through an independent arbitration process in 2015. The arbitrator recommended a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 for staff and that a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 be phased in over that period. The arbitration agreement covers the period up to 31 December 2019. It was designed to be of greatest benefit to lower paid secretaries and caretakers. For example, a secretary or caretaker who was paid the then minimum wage of €8.65 per hour in 2015 prior to the arbitration agreement will, from 1 January 2019, be paid €13 per hour, a 50% increase in that individual's hourly pay rate. Following the arbitration process, grant funding used by schools to fund the salaries of ancillary staff was improved to enable schools to implement the arbitration process outcome. My officials have advised me that the Workplace Relations Commission has not been in communication with them on this matter. If the representative organisations of the secretaries contact the Workplace Relations Commission, my officials will be a position to deal appropriately with it.

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