Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will repeat what I said yesterday. Sinn Féin condemns the vicious and abhorrent attack on Mr. Kevin Lunney, who was just doing his job and has been a part of creating employment for many people in the Border community. I echo the words of the Tánaiste that there is no justification for anybody to shield or cover those who are behind this attack - and, indeed, many other attacks - on individuals and properties related to Quinn Industrial Holdings. I encourage those with any information, regardless of how insignificant they think it is, to bring it to the relevant authority. This needs to be stamped out quickly.

I want to focus on the fact that thousands of school secretaries across the country will go on strike tomorrow and will begin an indefinite work-to-rule action until their modest demands are met. This follows a breakdown in talks yesterday between their union, Fórsa, and the Department of Education and Skills. I am sure the Tánaiste will agree that the staff are invaluable members of our school communities who often go beyond their job requirements to meet the needs of parents and pupils. They work on the front line and they are the first port of call for parents and students. Our schools simply would not function without them.

Our teachers would agree that these staff are underpaid and undervalued by the Department. School secretaries have my full support and that of Sinn Féin in their dispute and claim.

At the heart of the matter is a dispute that centres on the fact that the majority of school secretaries, just over 3,000 of them, receive as little as €13,000 per year. They also have irregular and short-term contracts with no pay during summer holidays, school breaks or at Christmas time. It is beyond doubt that these secretaries receive low pay with little security.

This is only compounded by the inequality within the system because, on one hand, a few hundred school secretaries are paid directly by the Department of Education and Skills with starting salaries of €24,000 and, on the other hand, 90% of them are not. Those who are not receive as little as €13,000 per year.

The importance of these staff will become clear tomorrow when they begin their strike at the start of the school day because their schools cannot function without them. They are integral to the education system that needs them and, in that way, they are public servants who provide a service to our children and parents. That cannot be disputed and is why Sinn Féin believes their claim is justified. They should be employed as public servants with the same contractual security as their colleagues.

The Department of Education and Skills has failed to seriously engage with staff and union representatives in order to resolve this dispute. The relevant Minister was made aware as far back as May of this year of the pay claim, the job insecurity and the two-tier pay structure but he has dragged his heels in reaching an agreement. I am sure the Minister will claim that the specific responsibility for the employment, pay and working conditions of these staff rests with the schools through the capitation grants they receive and not with his Department. Any of us in this House with children of school going age know that the capitation grants that are supposed to cover heating, lighting, insurance and teaching materials simply do not cut it.

We need real action. We need for these employees to be valued. What will this Government do to avert further action and recognise the work and value of school secretaries?

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