Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith has welcomed the news that 72 school secretaries in Cavan and 65 in Monaghan are now being paid by the State, following a long and successful campaign.

The arrangement comes as part of a package of measures on terms and conditions now being implemented after a series of engagements at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to settle a claim for grant-funded school secretaries.

Work is currently underway to achieve similar for school caretakers, in recognition of the valuable contribution they make to their school communities.

School secretaries are employed directly by many of the 3,089 primary schools and 722 post-primary schools across the country.

There are currently 2,745 individual secretaries on payroll across Ireland, covering 2,984 school secretary positions. Some 203 secretaries have multiple employments.

Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith said: “School secretaries are highly respected and valued by parents, students and school staff due to their tireless work. I am delighted that 137 of them across the constituency are being paid by the state.”

Minister Norma Foley said: “I am pleased that the Department is providing a payroll service for school secretaries in County Cavan and County Monaghan and across the country.

“I ensured that around 2,700 school secretaries nationwide were rightly put on the State payroll after a long campaign for recognition. I am continuing to work to achieve similar recognition for school caretakers.”

A survey issued in May to all recognised primary and post-primary schools regarding school caretakers, to gather information from schools employing grant-funded caretakers to facilitate further engagement with their representative union Forsa.

-ENDS-