Lump sum recommended in school secretary pension row
The Irish Labour Court has recommended a new pension model for school secretaries and caretakers to resolve a long-standing dispute over pay inequality. The proposal includes a combination of state pensions, auto-enrollment, and a retirement lump sum payment.
Why it matters
This resolution addresses over 40 years of pension inequality for essential school staff, potentially ending a significant labor dispute in the Irish education sector.
The Labour Court has recommended the issuing of lump sum payments at retirement in a bid to resolve a pensions dispute involving school secretaries and caretakers.
The row saw around 2,600 school secretaries and caretakers, who are members of the Fórsa trade union, engage in strike action for over a week at the start of the school year last year, impacting around 2,000 schools.
Fórsa withdrew the strike action after an agreement was reached to engage in a process to resolve the dispute and to negotiate pension entitlements for school secretaries and caretakers that are comparable with teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs).
The Labour Court recommendation proposes a model combining the State Contributory Pension (SPC) and the new auto-enrolment system, MyFutureFund, with an ex-gratia lump sum payment at retirement.
The gratuity is designed to bridge the identified gap with comparable SPC and Single Public Service Pension Scheme outcomes.
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