School secretaries negotiations
Deputy Thomas Byrne asked whether the Department of Education would finally engage in meaningful negotiations on school secretaries. The Minister said he was gathering information and had met officials and union representatives, but the issue had been outstanding for decades.
Will the Taoiseach or the Minister, Deputy McHugh, outline the position of the Department of Education and Skills regarding school secretaries and indicate whether it will engage in meaningful negotiations as required under the Workplace Relations Commission in 2015 and scheduled for this year, although this has not happened?
Comment on this
We are pulling together information now to try to establish how many are involved and what is required. I have had meetings with my officials about the matter and met representatives from Fórsa regarding other matters three months ago. In my first week as Minister, I raised this issue in the Dáil. It has been outstanding since 1978. There have been 23 Ministers responsible for education since then. I am the 23rd of those Ministers and I have some illustrious predecessors, including the current leader of Fianna Fáil. Bertie Ahern may also have held the position. This issue has not been addressed since 1978. We will deal with it through the mechanisms available in the pay talks. It is an outstanding issue that needs to be addressed and I appreciate the Deputy raising it.