Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins has expressed solidarity with the school secretaries and caretakers commencing indefinite strike action today.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of a protest rally at the Department of Public Expenditure in Dublin, Deputy Cummins said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAs students return to the classroom this week, it is unacceptable that the dedicated secretaries and caretakers who support our schools have been left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades, these professionals have provided essential services, working under identical arrangements to teachers and special needs assistants. While appointed by boards of management and paid through the Department of Education, crucially, they have been denied public service status.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has left them without access to entitlements enjoyed by teachers and SNAs, such as a pension. The glaring inequality of this two-tier system is indefensible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen new reforms came into effect in 2022, school secretaries were placed on the public payroll, affording them access to sick pay and maternity benefits. However, the arrangement explicitly excluded them from the public service employment classification that would give them access to pensions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt beggars belief that, after many years of service, these experienced staff face retirement without pension security.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice and equity are at the heart of this dispute. I stand firmly with the F\u00f3rsa members commencing industrial action today and call on the Department of Education and Department of Public Expenditure to immediately return to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur schools cannot function properly without the crucial work carried out by secretaries and caretakers. Those employed in these positions deserve dignity and fairness, both during their working lives and in retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery industrial relations lever must now be used to bring an end to this dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n
August 28, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins has expressed solidarity with the school secretaries and caretakers commencing indefinite strike action today. Speaking ahead of a protest rally at the Department of Public Expenditure in Dublin, Deputy Cummins said: \u201cAs students return to the classroom this week, it is unacceptable that the dedicated secretaries and caretakers who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,581,7,654],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-jen-cummins","category-press-release","category-workers-rights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n