Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I remind the Taoiseach of another industrial relations settlement from 2015. I do not know what was going on in 2015 that the Government was making settlements on industrial relations issues but this one is also coming back to bite it. At that time, the Government agreed with school secretaries and caretakers that it would come back this year to discuss their terms and conditions, which are grossly unfair. As I understand it, after much pressure from the Dáil, talks did start but I am led to believe they were a total and utter damp squib and that nothing substantial will happen now, although the agreement that secretaries and caretakers work under expires this year. Will the Taoiseach give me an update on these talks? Will the two-tier pay structure for school secretaries and caretakers, under which some are employed as civil servants and others as contract workers, come to an end as committed to in 2015?

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