Around 3,000 school secretaries represented by the Fórsa trade union are due to receive back pay from the Department of Education tomorrow.

It arises from the implementation of a pay agreement which is backdated to September 2021.

Since that date, school secretaries have transferred to a new pay scale giving them pay parity with colleagues in the public service.

They are also now being paid throughout the school year and not forced to sign-on for job seekers benefit during the weeks of school closure, which was previously the case.

Depending on length of service and other factors, school secretaries have seen their pay increase by a minimum of 17% while some secretaries, with more than 20 years service, have received pay increases of over 32%.

"The payments for arrears of salary to some secretaries are well in excess of €10,000," said Fórsa's head of education Andy Pike.

"Entitlements vary, but we are delighted that this back pay will be delivered before the holiday period," Mr Pike said.

Fórsa said discussions on a similar agreement for school caretakers are continuing.