Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 December 2013
60. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills in the event of a school closing, if ancillary staff such as school secretary and caretaker are entitled to redundancy; if so whose responsibility is it to pay this redundancy; if he will outline the application process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52214/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraStaff entitlements on the closure of a school will depend on the status of the employees concerned. If the staff are public servants and are covered by the Haddington Road Agreement protection against compulsory redundancy, then on the closure of the school the staff may be offered the option of redeploying to another public service post or voluntary redundancy, depending on the circumstances of the particular case. In such cases, the redundancy payment if applicable would be made by the Department or the employing ETB as appropriate.
If the staff concerned are employed directly by the school using ancillary grant funding, then their employer, for all purposes, is the school. Accordingly, it would be a matter for the employer (the school) to determine whether a redundancy payment is applicable in such case(s), in line with the relevant legislation. In such cases, the employer would be required to make any such redundancy payment required under the relevant legislation.
