Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
703. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a grant to a school (details supplied) in County Mayo has been withdrawn in view of the urgent need for the grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20600/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have seen at first hand the very important work done by school secretaries, and indeed by the other support staff in the running of our schools.
In recognition of this, I have put special arrangements in place for the coming school year whereby schools will be funded to employ a replacement secretary or caretaker in the event that staff who are at very high risk of contracting serious illness from COVID-19 cannot work from the school premises.
Schemes were initiated in 1978 and 1979 for the employment of clerical officers and caretakers in schools. The schemes were withdrawn completely in 2008. These schemes have been superseded by the capitation grant schemes. The current grant scheme was agreed in the context of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, published in 1991.
The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under the capitation grant schemes. It is a matter for each individual school to decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs. Where a school uses the grant funding for caretaking or secretarial purposes, any staff taken on to support those functions are employees of individual schools. Specific responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school.
On foot of a Chairman’s Note to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, my Department engaged with the Unions representing school secretaries and caretakers in an independent arbitration process in 2015. The Arbitrator recommended a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 for staff and a minimum hourly pay rate of €13.
Following the arbitration process, grant funding used by schools to fund the salaries of ancillary staff was improved by €24 from 2016 to 2020 in order to enable schools, including the school referred to by the Deputy, to implement the arbitration outcome. In order to give effect to the Arbitration Agreement a facility was made available for Schools to make an application for additional funding where they had insufficient funds to pay the minimum hourly rate in accordance with the ancillary funding circulars.
The increases recommended by the Arbitrator are binding and must be applied by all schools who employ staff to whom the Arbitrator’s recommendation applies.
A survey of Secretaries and Caretakers undertaken in 2019 identified some schools that are non-compliant with the provisions of the 2015 Arbitration Agreement, and my Department has contacted these schools to remind them of their obligations under the agreement, as implemented through various circulars. The links below will bring you to the most recent circulars in respect of the pay increases under the 2015 Arbitration Agreement.
https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0076_2018.pdf
https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0077_2018.pdf
In May last year FÓRSA trade union tabled a follow-on claim from the 2015 pay agreement. Officials from my Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and School Management Bodies are in discussions with FÓRSA under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission.
