Galway Bay fm newsroom - A Galway East TD is calling on the Government to find a solution to a long-running school support staff pay dispute.
Independent Deputy Sean Canney says the Department of Education must offer realistic solutions to end pay inequalities once and for all for schools secretaries and caretakers.
It follows a recent decision by the Fórsa trade union to reject what it described as a 'derisory' offer from the Department as part of a process designed to regularise the terms and conditions of school secretaries and caretakers.
The staff affected are employed by individual school boards of management and are paid out of the ancillary grant provided to schools.
Currently most of these secretaries earn roughly €12,500 a year with irregular short-term contracts that force them to sign-on during the summer holidays and other school breaks.
Deputy Canney argues the Department of Education’s offer is approximately €12,000 below the maximum salary for secretaries carrying out the same level of work in ETB schools.
He told Keith Finnegan on Galway Talks that the situation is discriminatory and must be resolved immediately.
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