Pension Provisions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank the Deputy for his kind comments, although I noted a "but" towards the end of them. In recent months, while I have been in this role, I have seen right across the Chamber the commitment to education of all the spokespersons and Members of the House. The Deputy did a huge amount of work in relation to the Rahan school bus. That is what all of us should be doing because the future of our people rests on education and how to get it. We were delighted to work with the Deputy on that matter.
School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of the school and are the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other members of teams within schools. They play a pivotal role and should be treated with the same respect as is afforded to all other members of a school's staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole.
The Department is committed to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar package which was offered to school secretaries on foot of an agreement reached in the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, in 2022. My Department has been engaging with Fórsa over the past number of weeks under the auspices of the WRC and with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in relation to a number of claims, including a claim for a comparable pension entitlement. The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court and a hearing will take place on 12 January 2026. The parties remain in process and my Department remains committed and ready to engage with Fórsa to reach a resolution on this important matter.
The Deputy will understand that as with any industrial relations process where engagement is sensitive and complex, the matters under discussion are confidential until this process concludes.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11