Vol. 571 No. 1
673 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science whether payments under the first phase of the benchmarking agreement have been made to caretakers in primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21014/03]
At primary level my Department provides funding towards the cost of caretaking services under two separate schemes. One scheme is the ancillary services grant scheme, which provides additional per capita grants for primary schools towards caretaking and secretarial services. This scheme does not provide for the linking of the grants to any particular pay scale. The scheme, by its nature, is flexible and gives boards of management discretion as to the manner in which caretaking and secretarial services are provided.
The second scheme is the 1979 scheme for the employment of full-time caretakers under which my Department meets the full cost of salary and employer's PRSI. These caretakers and other general operative grades were not examined under the benchmarking review. A parallel benchmarking exercise is currently being undertaken for these grades in the local authority and health sectors. The process involves the examination of pay structures and conditions of employment for general operatives and craft workers. It is expected that the parallel benchmarking review will be completed in the near future, at which time the terms can be applied to related grades in the education sector.
