End 'disgraceful disparity' - Mayo TD supports school secretaries and caretakers

MAYO Aontú TD Paul Lawless has joined school secretaries and caretakers in their protest in Dublin today seeking pension parity and public sector recognition.

Deputy Lawless issued the following statement supporting their campaign:

Today, I stand unequivocally with the members of Fórsa in their campaign for pension parity and public sector recognition for school secretaries and caretakers. These individuals are far more than ancillary - they are the heartbeat of our schools. With quiet grace and unwavering dedication, they orchestrate the daily rhythm of school life, often the first warm smile a child sees in the morning and the steadfast hands that secure the building long after the last bell has rung.

In truth, many school secretaries are the de facto managers of their schools. They field calls, soothe anxious parents, coordinate staff, manage records, and ensure the entire operation runs smoothly - often with little recognition and even less support. Ask any principal who truly keeps the wheels turning, and they’ll point to the secretary’s desk.

Their work is not just crucial - it is foundational. And yet, despite this central role, they are denied the basic entitlements afforded to their colleagues. It is a contradiction that borders on absurdity.

Yet, despite decades of loyal service, many retire with nothing more than a bouquet of flowers while their teaching colleagues depart with a pension and dignity intact. Is this the Ireland we wish to champion - a nation that rewards devotion with disparity?

Let us be clear: caretakers and secretaries are the backbone of our schools. They manage, they mend, they maintain. And still, they are denied the very basics - bereavement leave, critical illness cover, and pension entitlements.

I know of a caretaker who, upon receiving a cancer diagnosis, had to face treatment without pay. No safety net. No support. Just silence from the Department.

In ETB schools, these same roles are recognised as public sector posts with just different titles - clerical officers and general operatives - with full benefits. Yet in other schools, they are cast adrift, employed by boards of management and paid via outdated mechanisms like the Ancillary Grant.

The Department promised in 2022 to bring caretakers onto the payroll. It is now September 2025. Still no action. Still no justice.

We now have three classes of school employees: teachers and SNAs with full public service terms; secretaries paid by the Department but denied status; and caretakers paid by boards with no entitlements. This is not just bureaucratic bungling - it is institutional discrimination.

So I ask: why are the government and the Department of Education refusing to afford secretaries and caretakers the respect and dignity they receive from their fellow school staff and wider communities? Why must they fight for rights that should be theirs by default?

I call on the Minister and the Department to act without delay:

* Grant public sector status to all school secretaries and caretakers

* Enrol them in the Single Pension Scheme

* Make the Department the paymaster for all

* Engage with the Labour Court to resolve this equitably

Let this government not be remembered as the government who gave flowers but withheld fairness. Be remembered as the one that finally did the right thing.