LAST UPDATE | 5 Sep 2025

EDUCATION MINISTER HELEN McEntee has said the government is ready to discuss public service pensions if Fórsa, the union representing school secretaries and caretakers, comes to the table.

More than 2,800 staff across 2,300 schools have withdrawn from work for a seventh day today, causing major disruption to payroll systems, attendance records, and basic school services like rubbish collection.

Some schools have already had to close classes, and a number of principals have warned that further closures could be on the horizon if the strike continues.

Fórsa has so far refused to enter formal talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), saying it cannot suspend the strike without guarantees that pension discussions will be genuine.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Minister for Education Helen McEntee said the Government was willing to engage “without preconditions”, and to discuss all outstanding issues.

This would include public service pensions, sick leave, bereavement leave, and other employment conditions for caretakers.

“Government has been very clear, we will sit down and talk about all matters,” McEntee said.

“Nobody wants to see schools impacted in the way they are, or to see our secretaries and caretakers out on strike for another week. But we can only resolve this through industrial relations mechanisms,” she said.

Andy Pike, Fórsa’s head of education, said this afternoon that there had been “some movement” in relation to securing state pensions for striking staff.

“I hope we’re at the early stages of a resolution,” Pike said.

“We’ve been looking for a commitment that when formal negotiations start, the only pension option on the table is pension parity with teachers and SNAs, and I think we’re very nearly there with a commitment that we can work with,” he added.

An update before the weekend for school secretaries and caretakers.

Please rest, stay strong, and well done after a truly historic week of strikes! #PensionParity pic.twitter.com/XpaIkaYMOv

— Fórsa trade union (@forsa_union_ie) September 5, 2025

In a statement yesterday, Pike had said the strike is the direct result of the government’s “refusal to treat school secretaries and caretakers equally”, despite their essential role in schools.

“In every ETB-run school, secretaries and caretakers are public servants with full pension, sick pay and leave entitlements. Yet in thousands of other schools, staff doing identical work are excluded from these basic provisions,” Pike said.

“This exclusion is unfair, indefensible, and it can be remedied.

“When more than half of Government TDs, three Cabinet ministers, and the teaching unions representing every school in the country are saying the same thing, it’s time to listen. The Government must open meaningful negotiations to resolve this dispute,” he added.

Staff outside Presentation Primary School in Fermoy on Monday. Leona O'Connell Leona O'Connell

Teacher unions including the ASTI, INTO, and TUI have called for urgent negotiations, warning that schools cannot operate indefinitely without secretaries and caretakers.

Luisa Carty, chair of the Fórsa School Secretaries branch, said staff members remain committed to their school communities and “want to return to work”.

“Our members are not seeking exceptional treatment. They are seeking fairness, access to the same pensions and entitlements as their colleagues in the public service,” Carty said.

“Our members want the same pensions and entitlements as their colleagues in the public service. The Government’s silence is eroding confidence that it is serious about ending this strike. It is time to bring all parties to the table,” she added.

School secretaries and caretakers are employed and hired by their respective school’s Board of Management, who traditionally acted as their employer.

However, significant changes in 2022 meant that secretaries are now paid by the Department of Education Payroll system in the same way as teachers and SNAs – the Minister for Education is the paymaster, and sets the terms and conditions of employment for all such staff (including granting access to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme).

Although teachers and SNAs in the same school are paid the same as secretaries through the Department of Education, secretaries are not considered public servants and cannot join the public service pension scheme, while teachers and SNAs can.

Put simply, secretaries and caretakers in schools don’t get the same benefits as teachers and SNAs. They have little or no sick pay, no paid bereavement leave, and no access to public service pensions.

McEntee said she believes progress can be made once both sides engage, and said the Department of Education is willing to sit down for negotiations.

“I’d ask Fórsa to do the same, to come to the table, because I believe that’s how we make progress here,” McEntee said.

Fórsa said the strike will continue until meaningful discussions take place and an agreement is reached on how and when school secretaries and caretakers will be integrated into the single public service scheme.