Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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938. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the school secretary payment deal (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28911/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year, in recognition of the invaluable work carried out by school secretaries the Department of Education put forward for agreement by the Forsa trade union, representing school secretaries, a suite of measures designed to improve the working conditions of school secretaries. This followed extensive engagement between the Department and school management bodies with Forsa to work towards a resolution with the support of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

This offer was accepted and the work to implement this agreement has now commenced. This requires a complex process of assimilation and a need to capture accurate data in respect of each individual secretary. Additional resources are being put in place to provide capacity to manage this process, ensuring both individual and school data is captured and correctly applied.

The agreement includes moving secretaries to a scale which is aligned with the Clerical Officer Grade III pay scale on a pro-rata basis according to a secretary’s current working pattern as well as improvements to certain leave entitlements. The Department of Education has issued a circular to schools outlining how the agreement will be implemented. The circular outlines that as a first phase of implementation of the agreement, schools must, before the end of September, calculate the initial assimilation rate of pay and annual leave entitlement for secretaries and offer it to secretaries. Where secretaries choose to move to the new terms they will be paid the new rate from September by the school.

Where a secretary chooses to move to the new terms then they may also opt for an additional benefit to cover the value of certain social welfare benefits related to periods of layoff and have that salary ‘annualised’ across 52 weeks, thereby removing the requirement to seek jobseekers benefit during school holidays.

The verification of this first phase, the calculation of back pay and the option to have the value of Jobseekers Benefit included in pay will be addressed in the second phase of the assimilation process. The Department will continue to consider the approach to these further aspects and communicate to the schools as needed over the coming months.