Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills following the welcome changes to the wages, entitlements and terms and conditions of school secretaries, the plans for school caretakers and cleaners. [39478/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Caretakers and cleaners are valued members of our school communities who carry out work vital to the operations of our schools.

Under the February 2022 agreement the implementation of revised salary and annual leave entitlements for school secretaries is now fully operational, and lessons learned from that process are now playing a key role in the drafting and implementation of a similar deal to be offered to grant funded school caretakers. The Department committed, as part of the agreement, to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail a similar package offered to school secretaries of revised salary and annual leave entitlements in the near future.

A survey was issued to schools for completion at the end of the 2023/24 school year. Work is now underway to analyse the data that has been gathered. This information will enable my officials to confirm their understanding of the current working patterns as well as terms and conditions of work for school caretakers. The Department are also actively in communication with Fórsa on this important matter, matters discussed have contributed to a clearer understanding of the variety of terms and conditions of employment that exist for caretakers in our schools.

Once work has been completed in assessing the information obtained from this initial survey the Department will then be in a position to progress this claim further.

In terms of cleaners, the majority of primary and post-primary schools receive assistance to provide for cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to support those functions those staff members are employees of the individual schools and as such responsibility for terms of employment and their rate of pay rests with the school or Board of Management. The Department of Education does not play a role in the agreement of these terms of employment nor do they set the rate of pay.

In the normal course, there are ongoing discussions with the public service unions on any and all matters relating to pay agreements. Any review of changes to the employment of school cleaners or other pay mechanisms, can occur only under those processes and any such proposals would need to be considered in detail by the Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and the relevant unions.