Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and express my support for school secretaries and the industrial action currently in progress. I do so as a lifelong trade unionist, a current associate member of Fórsa and a trade union activist in its predecessor, the IMPACT trade union, previously known as the Local Government and Public Services Union and, prior to that, the Irish Local Government Officials Union.

It is clear to me that there is huge support for school secretaries across the board, and very strong support for them in Fórsa. Their teaching colleagues in the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, and other unions involved in the education system are supportive of them. Parents' associations are also supportive of the action, as are the general public. All are now demanding that school secretaries be treated fairly and the situation be addressed urgently.

This is effectively a pay justice issue. As the Minister and everybody here knows, there is a two-tier system in respect of the employment and pay and conditions of school secretaries. Some are employed directly by the Department of Education and Skills, and are paid appropriately and have conditions appropriate to that employment, including pension entitlements. The vast majority of secretaries are employed by school boards of management. While they do their best, there is obviously a very serious difference between secretaries employed by the Department and those employed by boards of management. The latter have very irregular short-term and precarious contracts of employment. They have no entitlement to sick leave, pensions or holiday pay. They have to sign on during periods such as Christmas, Easter and the summer. Even in situations where they are forced to sign on, they will not be routinely paid social welfare payments. I have had occasion to go to the independent appeals process of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ensure that school secretaries were paid during holiday periods. That is not good enough. In terms of pay, secretaries employed by boards of management earn €12,000 or €12,500 a year, which is considerably less than their colleagues working in the same school or a school down the road.

Secretaries are undertaking this industrial action reluctantly, but are doing so in a very committed way. The vote for industrial action is an indication of that, given that 94% voted in favour which is an almost unprecedented figure. It is an indication that school secretaries are adamant that their pay and conditions be addressed during this round of industrial action through whatever negotiations take place.

It is important to point out that this issue has been ongoing for almost four decades. I was an activist in the union for 30 years and have been a Member of this House for the past 15 years. This issue has been raised on a regular basis for at least the past 30 years. It is time for the situation finally to be sorted out such that all school secretaries are employed directly by the Department and have appropriate pay and the conditions of employment which attach to departmental employees.

School secretaries are an indispensable part of the school scene. They are the hub of the school and undertake a range of important duties. There would be serious consequences for schools and school communities if those duties were not fulfilled.

Statistics and costings relating to this issue were presented to the committee in April. Studies were carried out in 2010, 2014 and 2018. We have studies and statistics on the issue coming out of our ears. It is time for action. It is time for the secretaries to be fairly and reasonably dealt with and for them to receive the same pay, conditions and status as their colleagues who are employed directly by the Department. I urge the Minister to intervene immediately to ensure that the secretaries become departmental employees.

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