Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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338. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 461 of 20 May 2025, if she will provide an update specifically for school caretakers, not school secretaries; and the progress made on a survey which was undertaken by her Department to schools regarding caretakers, to ensure a similar improvements in pay and terms and conditions as achieved for Secretaries. [27633/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department recognises the vitally important role of school caretaker. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole.

The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs 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. 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. The Department is committed to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar package to that offered to school secretaries in the near future.

As there are obvious differences between the roles of school secretaries and school caretakers, a detailed survey was undertaken to inform my officials understanding of the current working patterns as well as terms and conditions of work for school caretakers, and the analysis of the survey results is nearing completion.

I acknowledge that Forsa are looking to improve terms and conditions for caretakers 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 a number of issues. 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.