Written answers

Wednesday, 3 October 2018

Department of Education and Skills

School Services Staff

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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141. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when provisions will be put in place to ensure secretaries in schools are given a pay deal that will include a proper wage, pension rights and sick pay. [40213/18]

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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142. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason secretaries are not employed by his Department but by the individual board of management of each school. [40214/18]

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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143. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason school secretaries are being paid from the schools' ancillary grants in view of the fact that the situation could arise that two secretaries in the same town could be paid considerably different amounts depending on the amount that school can afford to pay. [40215/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 to 143, inclusive, together.

The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools in the Free Education Scheme now receive capitation grant assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services. Within the capitation grant schemes, it is a matter for each individual school to decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs. Where a school uses the capitation grant funding to employ a secretary, such staff are employees of individual schools. Though schemes were initiated in 1978 and 1979 for the employment of Clerical Officers and Caretakers in primary and secondary schools, where staff employed on these schemes are paid directly by the Department and not via grant funding, these schemes have been largely phased out and have been superseded by the more extensive capitation grant scheme. My Department has no plans to develop an alternative scheme for schools to employ secretaries separate to the current system of capitation grant assistance.

In terms of the latest negotiations that have taken place with regard to the pay of capitation grant-funded school secretaries; in 2015 my Department engaged with the Union side on negotiations in relation to the pay of school secretaries (and caretakers) who are employed using grant funding, and agreed to enter an arbitration process on that issue. The Arbitrator recommended a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 for school secretaries (and caretakers) comprehended by the terms of the arbitration process and that a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 for such staff be phased in over the period 2016 to 2019. Grant funding used by schools to fund the salaries of ancillary staff is also being improved on a phased basis between 2016 and 2019 following the arbitration process. These increases are in order to enable schools implement the arbitration outcome for grant funded secretaries (and caretakers).

In December 2017, my Department published circular letter 0078/2017 for primary schools and circular letter 0079/2017 for voluntary secondary schools, setting out the application of the third phase increases of the Arbitrator’s recommendations. The circulars are available at:

Circular 0078/2017:

Circular 0079/2017:

The increases recommended by the Arbitrator are binding and must be applied by all schools who employ staff to whom the Arbitrator's recommendation applies.

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