Fórsa has urged the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, to increase the pace of engagement with the union for a new school caretaker pay structure.

Responding to a statement by the Minster last week - and welcoming a pay survey on the current pay and conditions of school caretakers in more than 3,800 schools - Fórsa said increasing the pace of engagement is essential to ensuring school caretakers do not have to wait any longer for a new pay structure to be implemented.

Fórsa head of education Andy Pike commented: “We believe that an agreement is possible on the same terms agreed for school secretaries, which would significantly increase pay and provide basic conditions of service.

“This would include, for example, paid leave entitlements, which would end the need for school caretakers to claim social protection payments during weeks of school closure. This arrangement has been transformative for school secretaries, who have been on a centralised payroll system since September 2023.

“Fórsa appreciates there are a number of complex elements to the proposed caretaker agreement, such as how to treat overtime and on-call obligations, but we are confident that if both parties intensify their efforts a beneficial agreement can be reached,” he said.

Following the establishment of a new pay structure for school secretaries in 2021, Fórsa and the Department of Education agreed to negotiate a new pay structure for school caretakers.  

The school caretakers pay survey is to be completed by 14th June. Andy said the survey is an essential exercise to identify current pay arrangements, the results of which will inform ongoing negotiations on a new pay structure.

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