School secretaries and caretakers talks
William Aird asked for an update on negotiations covering pension parity, pay and other conditions for school secretaries and caretakers after strike action was withdrawn. The Taoiseach said he would speak to the relevant Ministers and report back on progress.
Following the recent withdrawal of strike action by school secretaries and caretakers represented by Fórsa, can the Taoiseach provide an update on the current status of the negotiations regarding pension parity, pay frameworks and other employment conditions? Will he outline the timeline for implementing the commitments agreed through the Workplace Relations Commission? Will he list measures the Government is taking to ensure the negotiations are concluded promptly?
I thank the Taoiseach for his work in convincing the industrial school survivors to come off the hunger strike. I spoke to them daily because my family had a home in Roscrea. My grandmother, when she was a public representative in the fifties, did a lot of work with those concerned. I thank the Taoiseach for his work. It is great to see the issue resolved and that the survivors do not have to be outside the gates anymore.
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks. I will talk to the Minister for education about an update in respect of a resolution for school secretaries and caretakers. I will also speak to the Minister for public expenditure to see where we are in bringing the process to completion. It is a significant issue and a lot of people are awaiting the outcome. I will come back to the Deputy on that. I thank him for his remarks.