Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

495. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of implementing pension parity for school secretaries and caretakers. [25904/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The school secretary is at the heart of the school and is the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole.

The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools traditionally received assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employed a staff member to support those functions those staff are not public servants but employees of individual schools and responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school.

Since September 2023 my department has been providing a payroll service for former grant funded school secretaries and I am delighted to say that currently 85% of school secretaries have opted for the new package and are on the Department administered payroll. This happened on foot of an Agreement reached in 2022, under the auspices of the WRC, that secretaries would move to a centralised pay roll managed by the Department and receive new terms and conditions of employment.

As you know, school secretaries now benefit from an alignment with the Clerical Officer Grade III pay scale within education and training boards on a pro rata basis. In addition, it was agreed that pay increases under future national agreements will be passed onto secretaries and this has happened with each pay increase since the implementation of the agreement.

My Department has also improved the conditions for School Secretaries with regard to sick leave, annual leave and maternity provisions for this cohort of staff. For example, where only 51% of grant-funded secretaries had paid sick leave previously, all those who have onboarded to the departments payroll now have access to paid sick leave entitlements.

I acknowledge that Forsa are looking to future improvements for terms and conditions for secretaries and recognise that for them, public service status and access to a public service pension is understandably an important objective.

The issue of public service status is complex and needs to have regard to the state of the public finances and the repercussive effects of any such proposals for other grant-funded groups of non-public servants. For those reasons, any proposals must be considered in detail by my own officials and those in Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform as the granting or otherwise of public servant status is not within the scope of this Department.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

496. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for clarification on the announced changes to contracts of indefinite duration; when the new rules will regarding a one-year contract and then a contract of indefinite duration apply from; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25949/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I know that teachers experience challenges that were not so acute for previous generations. That is why I have announced that to help teachers to gain permanent roles more quickly, we will develop a new agreement which will see teachers who have taught for one year and successfully interview for a viable post in that school the following year, immediately getting offered a permanent contract at the start of that year.

I hope that being able to gain a permanent contract a year earlier will help teachers in applying for mortgages and placing their careers on a more stable footing much sooner than before. I hope this will be of significant benefit to younger teachers in particular.

Officials of my Department will be engaging with the education partners to finalise the details of this new agreement, following which the details will be published by my Department.