Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD today raised in the Dáil with the Minister for Education ongoing issues facing school secretaries.

“Recognition alone will not put food on the table. School secretaries deserve pay equality, they deserve pension entitlements and they deserve better working conditions.

“They want to return to the WRC and are willing to do so, but this must be on the basis of addressing the real issues that they face. The government have taken a closed-off attitude, putting forward only a modest pay increase, not pay equality and hoping that this will go away.

“A modest pay increase does not achieve equality. Secretaries deserve better.

“Full pay equality was a commitment of Fianna Fáil in opposition and it was included by the Green Party in their General Election manifesto. But, it is nowhere to be seen in the government’s budget. The Minister and her Department need to commit to resolving these issues.

“In our Alternative Budget, Sinn Féin committed €7 million to ensuring pay equality for all school secretaries. Until full pay equality is delivered, we will continue to ask questions and will continue to hold the government to account.”