Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his decision to reinstate history as a core subject for the junior cycle. Teachers, parents and, eventually, students will thank him very much for that in light of its importance in the school curriculum. It is a very positive decision.

The school secretary is the first person one meets when one goes through the doors or gates of a school. They are expected to deal with so much, including upset pupils, emotional parents and stressed teachers. As my colleague, Deputy Breathnach, stated, they are the glue that keeps the school community together. They are the backbone of schools throughout the country and it is most unfair that not all school secretaries and caretakers come under the umbrella of the Department of Education and Skills and that some are expected to work alongside colleagues who are on a different payscale and may be paid vastly more for doing the same work. I congratulate the staff, parents, students and special needs assistants who supported and stood shoulder to shoulder with secretaries across the country.

It dawned on me during a meeting with secretaries held in The Vale national school outside Bailieborough that this workforce is predominantly female. The secretaries of St. Anne's national school, Bailieborough, Ballinamoney national school, Tunnyduff national school, Shercock national school and Crossreagh national school were present. While we had coffee that morning, I asked them whether there are many males in the workforce. They had to think about it. Women fill the vast majority of school secretary posts. Is there any other workforce in which women are not paid for holidays, sick leave or maternity leave and do not have pension entitlements? Not in this day and age.

Ms Marie Brady, the secretary of St. Felim's national school, is leading the way in fighting for the cause of secretaries. She pointed out that the secretaries fighting for the cause will probably not gain very much from any improvements made by the Minister. Rather, they are fighting for the next generation of secretaries. They are to be commended on that.

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