The Department of Education and Skills has today (Wednesday 10th of July) issued short online surveys to schools on secretaries and caretakers employed by them and paid by grant funding.

These surveys are being undertaken in response to a pay claim that has recently been tabled by FÓRSA. As is standard practice, the full current cost of this claim to the public pay bill must be established. The Department is not the employer of the staff covered by the claim so the new surveys are needed in order to gather the relevant information.

The Department last surveyed schools on this matter in 2009. Since then, an arbitration pay agreement has been implemented for the staff concerned, which provided for a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 and a minimum hourly pay rate of €13. This arbitration agreement runs until 31 December 2019.

The surveys will issue to over 3,500 individual schools. Given the scale of the task and the fact that schools are in the summer holiday period, the Department expects to have analysis from the surveys available in early October.

Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh T.D. said: ““I have met many school secretaries and I have some understanding of the issues in relation to their employment conditions. I have also heard what the union representatives have had to say.

“This survey is an important part in properly understanding the conditions they work under and the full current cost of the union’s pay claim.”

The closing date is Wednesday 4 September and the Department is encouraging all relevant schools to complete the surveys before that date.

Links to the surveys are available to schools on Esinet. The surveys are password protected and further details are available from each school’s management body, or by contacting esrsurvey@education.gov.ie

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