Thomas Pringle TD

Pringle calls on Government to resolve outstanding issues for school secretaries and caretakers

Pringle calls on Government to resolve outstanding issues for school secretaries and caretakers

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has called on the Government to commit to resolving outstanding issues for school secretaries and caretakers.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “Tomorrow, school secretaries and caretakers represented by Fórsa return to talks at the Workplace Relations Commission around pay and pension arrangements for grants funded positions.

“These protracted talks are despite the Tánaiste stating in the chamber here in the first months of this government, that it was your government’s objective to regularise employment, terms, conditions and pension rights for school secretaries,” he said.

The deputy raised the issue with the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, today during Questions on Promised Legislation.

Deputy Pringle said: “I expect that I’ll get the stock reply about letting the process run its course, Taoiseach. But the stumbling block to a settlement is the obvious intransigence on the part of the two ministries involved in the talks.

“So, my question is this, Taoiseach: Will you appeal to Ministers Foley and McGrath directly, to settle this now along the lines contained in the Fianna Fáil election manifesto, which stated: ‘It is manifestly unfair that two people, doing the same job, with the same qualifications and to the same standard should be on vastly different wages’?

“Or do you endorse the continued delay, which is characteristic of ministers who are captured by the departments they supposedly lead?”