Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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936. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the terms and conditions by which school secretaries are employed by national schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42100/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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A clerk typist scheme for the employment of secretaries in primary schools was initiated in 1978 as part of the then Government's job-creation programme. While a small number of secretaries employed under the 1978 scheme remain in schools, the scheme is being phased out - no new posts are being created and posts which fall vacant are not being filled.

The 1978 scheme has been superseded by a more extensive grant scheme which was introduced under the PESP agreement of 1992. The majority of primary schools receive grant assistance to provide for secretarial (and/or caretaking) services under the Ancillary Services Capitation Grant for Primary Schools. Within the Capitation grant scheme, the level and extent of services provided is a matter for the school authorities who, through the discretion afforded under the scheme, apply diverse arrangements for secretarial services as resources permit.

My Department does not stipulate any rules concerning how secretarial services are to be obtained by the school. It is a matter for the individual school to decide how best to apply the funding to suit the school's particular needs.Where a school uses the capitation grant funding to employ a secretary, such staff are employees of individual schools and my Department therefore does not have any role in determining the pay and conditions under which they are engaged. These are matters to be agreed between the staff concerned and the school authorities, subject of course to any relevant statutory provisions.