Brendan Smith
Ceist:324. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education to provide an update on the implementation of the new pay deal for school secretaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22678/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 16 May 2023
Ceisteanna (324)
Freagraí scríofa
In February 2022, following a series of engagements at the WRC, a suite of measures designed to improve the working conditions of school secretaries was proposed, and which Fórsa agreed to recommend to its members. A ballot of the relevant members was undertaken, and the result was 95% agreement in favour of the deal.
Since then, in conjunction with Fórsa, work to implement this agreement has been ongoing in my Department. This work requires a complex process of assimilating information to capture accurate data in respect of each individual secretary.
Last year, my Department issued circular 36/2022 to schools which outlines how the agreement is to be implemented. In the first phase of implementation of the agreement, schools had to, by the end of September 2022, calculate the initial assimilation rate of pay and annual leave entitlement due and offer it to each individual secretary working in their school.
Following this initial process, a survey issued from the payroll division of my Department to all schools on the 7th November 2022, seeking details of the offers made by schools to their secretaries, and other information required to bring a secretary on to the payroll service. The survey closed in December and based on the returns received, nearly 2,850 secretaries have accepted the offer made by their schools in line with the methodology set out in Circular 36/2022.
The second implementation phase involves calculating back pay to September 2021, taking into account the pay increases from February 2022 and October 2022, and/or any other public service pay agreements as may be relevant at the time calculations are performed.
The plan is that Secretaries who have accepted the offer made to them by their schools will be paid on my Department’s payroll service from 1st September 2023, with a first pay date of 14th September. Implementation of this agreement remains a priority for my Department this year.