The Optus Glean promise: predictability
Three pillars. Three commitments. No exceptions.
Predictable cost. One fixed monthly fee, set against a defined scope and an annual indexed review. No variable hours. No surprise invoices. No padded callout charges. Budgeted once, paid by Direct Debit, reviewed once a year.
Predictable presence. The site is cleaned every day it is meant to be cleaned. A named primary cleaner is rostered to your contract, supported by a named relief who is already vetted, inducted, and trained on the same colour-coded system and IPC standard. The schedule does not depend on whether one person is available on one day.
Predictable freedom. A single point of accountability. One contract. One named manager. One number to call. Cleaning is no longer a problem the school has to manage — it is a service that runs.
Why cleaning in Ireland is structurally hard to get right
Most cleaning provision in Ireland — including in healthcare-adjacent settings — is delivered by a workforce that is structurally part-time and casual. A significant proportion of operatives across the sector also work as healthcare assistants in nursing homes, residential care, and acute hospitals. Cleaning shifts are typically taken when healthcare shifts are not available, and released when they are. This pattern is consistent with CSO labour data on accommodation, food, and administrative-support employment, and it is the underlying reason that buyers across Ireland encounter inconsistency from agencies they have contracted in good faith.
The pattern is reinforced by two background pressures specific to Ireland. Housing affordability limits the catchment for any role paying at or near the minimum wage. The Contract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order rate of €14.80 per hour for 2026, set under the Labour Court's sectoral employment framework, sits close enough to flexible care-sector pay that operatives drift toward whichever shift pays slightly more on the day. Both pressures pull cleaning staff away from contracted shifts and toward casual healthcare work.
The result, from the buyer's perspective, is the experience most practice managers, facilities leads, and procurement officers in Ireland describe: a clean that is half-completed when the contracted cleaner is available, missed entirely when they are not, and accompanied by recurring conversations with the agency about cover that may or may not arrive.
This is the structural problem Optus Glean is built to solve. Our operatives are fully PAYE-employed with guaranteed weekly hours, paid leave, and pension contributions under Irish auto-enrolment. They are paid above the ERO floor deliberately — because the structural reliability of the service depends on the cleaner choosing to remain in the role rather than rotating through casual healthcare shifts. A named primary cleaner is assigned to your site, supported by a named relief, both Garda-vetted and trained to Optus Glean's documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard.
Why Schools Need Professional Cleaning
Schools are among the most challenging environments to clean. Hundreds of children move through classrooms, corridors, canteens, and toilets every day, generating significant volumes of mess, spills, and waste. Children share desks, equipment, and spaces, creating ideal conditions for the transmission of infectious diseases — from seasonal flu and norovirus to hand, foot and mouth disease. The school environment must be cleaned to a standard that protects children's health while also providing a bright, welcoming space that supports learning.
School cleaning also carries unique regulatory obligations. Under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012–2016, every person who works in a school must be Garda vetted. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, sets child safeguarding standards that apply to all adults who have access to children. The Board of Management is responsible for ensuring that cleaning contractors comply with these requirements. A cleaning company that sends unvetted or untrained staff into a school exposes the Board to serious regulatory risk.
Optus Glean provides dedicated school cleaning teams across Ireland. Every operative is Garda vetted, child-safeguarding trained, and experienced in school environments. We work with primary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, ETB schools, Gaelscoileanna, and special education settings, delivering consistent, reliable cleaning that keeps students and staff safe.
Classroom Cleaning
Classrooms are the core of any school, and they take a beating. Desks are scribbled on, floors accumulate art supplies, food crumbs, and mud, and surfaces become contaminated with the germs that children inevitably bring in. Our classroom cleaning is thorough and consistent.
- Desk and table surfaces: wiped and sanitised daily, with particular attention to shared workstations
- Chair cleaning: seats and backs wiped, legs cleaned
- Floor care: vacuum carpeted areas, mop hard floors, spot-treat stains
- High-touch surface sanitisation: door handles, light switches, window latches, coat hooks
- Whiteboard and interactive screen surround cleaning (screens not touched)
- Windowsill and radiator dusting
- Bin emptying and liner replacement
- Art and craft areas: sink cleaning, surface degreasing, paint splash removal
Assembly Hall and Sports Facilities
Assembly halls serve multiple functions — PE, assemblies, performances, exams, and community events. The floor surface (typically sprung timber or sports-grade vinyl) requires specialist care to maintain its condition and appearance. Our assembly hall cleaning covers daily floor sweeping and mopping, weekly floor machine scrubbing, periodic floor stripping, re-sealing, and line marking maintenance, stage and platform cleaning, equipment storage area tidying, and window cleaning. Sports changing rooms and shower facilities receive daily deep cleaning including floor and wall sanitisation, bench and locker cleaning, shower and washroom deep cleaning, and consumable replenishment.
Canteen and Kitchen Cleaning
School canteens and kitchens must comply with HACCP food safety standards under EC Regulation 852/2004. The Environmental Health Officer can inspect a school kitchen at any time. Our canteen cleaning follows the same HACCP-compliant protocols we use for restaurants and food service businesses: documented cleaning schedules, colour-coded equipment, food-safe chemicals, and trained operatives. We clean all food preparation surfaces, cooking equipment exteriors, serving counters, dining tables and chairs, floors, waste areas, and dishwashing stations. Documentation is maintained for EHO inspection.
Toilet and Washroom Cleaning
School toilets are the number one source of parental complaints and the area most likely to spread infectious disease. Children's toilets require more frequent and more thorough cleaning than adult washrooms — accidents are more common, hand hygiene is less reliable, and the facilities see intensive use during break times. Our school washroom cleaning includes daily deep cleaning of all toilets, urinals, sinks, and floors; sanitisation of all surfaces using anti-bacterial cleaning agents; cubicle wall and door cleaning; mirror and hand dryer cleaning; consumable replenishment (soap, paper towels, toilet paper); and weekly descaling of all fixtures. We also provide washroom management services including consumable supply, hygiene unit servicing, and air freshener maintenance.
School Cleaning Pricing
School cleaning pricing depends on the number of classrooms, the size of ancillary facilities, and the cleaning frequency. Below are indicative 2026 pricing ranges for Ireland.
| Service | Price Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small primary school (4-8 classrooms) | €800 – €1,200/month | 5 nights/week, after school hours |
| Mid-sized school (12-20 classrooms) | €1,200 – €1,800/month | Classrooms + hall + canteen + toilets |
| Large secondary school / campus | €1,800 – €2,500+/month | 20+ classrooms, labs, sports facilities |
| Holiday deep clean (summer) | €1,000 – €3,000 | Full school, floor care, deep clean |
| Infection outbreak response | €300 – €800 | Rapid deep clean within 24 hours |
Note: Prices exclusive of VAT. All pricing includes Garda-vetted staff, child-safeguarding-trained operatives, and cleaning chemicals. DEIS schools — contact us for flexible pricing options designed for your budget. Multi-school contracts receive volume discounts.
Infection Control and Outbreak Response
Schools are high-risk environments for infectious disease outbreaks. When norovirus, flu, COVID-19, or other infectious diseases hit a school, the Board of Management needs a rapid, effective cleaning response to limit transmission and keep the school open. Optus Glean provides an outbreak response service that delivers enhanced deep cleaning and disinfection within 24 hours of notification. We use hospital-grade disinfectants effective against the specific pathogen, focus on high-touch surfaces and high-traffic areas, and provide documentation for HSE notification if required. Between outbreaks, our daily cleaning programme focuses on infection prevention through high-touch surface sanitisation, hand sanitiser station management, and colour-coded cleaning equipment to prevent cross-contamination.
Serving Schools Across Ireland
Optus Glean provides school cleaning services in every county in Ireland. For detailed pricing information, see our school cleaning cost guide. We work with primary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, ETB schools, Gaelscoileanna, special education settings, and childcare facilities. Whether you are a 4-teacher rural national school or a 1,000-pupil urban secondary school in Dublin, Cork, Galway, or Limerick, we have the vetted teams, the safeguarding systems, and the school-specific experience to keep your school clean, safe, and welcoming for every pupil.
Frequently asked questions
How much does school cleaning cost in Ireland in 2026?
A school is priced as a fixed monthly fee per site against a term-based scope: daily after-hours cleaning of classrooms, washrooms, corridors and shared areas, plus scheduled holiday-period deep cleans. The Contract Cleaning ERO 2026 sets a €14.80/hour labour floor, but reputable providers quote the contract on a multi-year term with an annual indexed review and a single monthly Direct Debit, never per hour.
What standards apply to school cleaning in Ireland?
Department of Education school cleaning guidance, the Children First Act 2015 (child-safeguarding obligations on every adult on site), HSA requirements under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and HSE Public Health guidance on outbreak response. The cleaning programme must produce a documented audit trail that supports the school's own child-safeguarding statement and risk assessments.
What child-safeguarding requirements apply to school cleaning staff?
Every cleaner working on a school site must be Garda-vetted via the National Vetting Bureau before they enter the building, briefed on the school's Child Safeguarding Statement under the Children First Act 2015, and identifiable on site (lanyard, uniform, signed-in). A reputable provider also runs the cleaning programme outside teaching hours so cleaners and pupils do not share spaces.
How are school cleans scheduled around the term?
A typical school contract runs daily evening cleans across term time and steps up to programmed deep cleans during mid-term, Christmas, Easter, and the summer break. Summer is the heavy lift — floors stripped and resealed, soft furnishings deep-cleaned, washrooms re-grouted where needed. The fixed monthly fee covers both term-time and holiday-period work; budgets do not need to flex with the calendar.
What's the difference between PAYE and casual cleaning contracts in education?
A PAYE-employed cleaner is on payroll with the company that signs the contract, paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO €14.80/hour floor, Garda-vetted, with paid leave and PRSI through the employer. A casual or self-employed operative is none of those things. PAYE staffing is the only model that supports a named primary cleaner with continuity across an academic year — and continuity is what child-safeguarding compliance actually requires.
How do I evaluate a cleaning provider for a school?
Ask whether the cleaners are PAYE-employed and Garda-vetted before they enter the site, who the named primary cleaner and relief are for the building, and whether the provider can produce a written method statement and chemical SDS file that satisfies the school's Health & Safety statement under HSA rules. Holiday-period deep-clean delivery should be in the contract, not an extra.
What should be in a cleaning contract for a school?
Defined daily scope and frequency per zone (classrooms, washrooms, corridors, canteens, gym, staff areas), the holiday-period deep-clean programme, after-hours scheduling, named primary cleaner with Garda vetting on file, child-safeguarding briefing, the chemical regime with SDS, fixed monthly fee, annual indexed review, and a clean exit clause. No per-hour pricing. No "ad-hoc" charges every time a holiday clean is scheduled.
How does a cleaning provider handle outbreaks at a school?
An outbreak — norovirus, hand-foot-and-mouth, flu — triggers the school to consult HSE Public Health, who advise on enhanced cleaning frequency and chemical regime. The cleaning provider should be on call to step the programme up: more frequent touchpoint cleaning, validated disinfection contact times, and documented evidence of what was cleaned and when. In Ireland, this typically means same-day response from the named primary cleaner or named relief, not a "we'll get to you next week" agency dispatch.
How Optus Glean handles staff shortages
Every Optus Glean contract is staffed on a redundancy model rather than a single-person model. A named primary cleaner is assigned to the site at contract start. A named relief is assigned alongside them. Both are PAYE-employed by Optus Glean, both are Garda-vetted, both are inducted on the site's specific layout, access protocols, and colour-coded equipment system, and both are trained to the same documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard. Substitution is built into the contract from the first day, not arranged on the day cover is needed.
Sick day cover. When the primary cleaner is unable to work, the named relief is deployed. The school site contact is notified by 06:30 on the morning of the absence by SMS or email, with the name of the relief who is attending. The relief follows the same task list, uses the same equipment, and finishes within the same window. The standard of clean is unchanged because the relief was prepared for this scenario before the absence happened.
Annual leave cover. Annual leave is rostered weeks in advance and the relief is scheduled to cover the full leave period. The school is informed at the start of the leave period — not on the morning leave begins. This is the same model used in clinical rota management: known absences are pre-staffed, not improvised.
Long-term cover. If the primary cleaner is absent for more than two weeks (extended illness, parental leave, bereavement leave), cover is drawn from the wider trained bench rather than relying on the single named relief. The school is kept informed of the cover plan, the named individuals involved, and the expected duration. Continuity of standard is maintained because every operative on the bench is trained to the same documented standard.
Permanent reassignment. If the primary cleaner moves to a new permanent role within Optus Glean — promotion, relocation, retirement — the relief is promoted to primary on a planned timetable, a new relief is trained on the site, and both are introduced to the school before the handover takes effect. There is no day on which the school discovers, after the fact, that their cleaner has changed.
Substitution is Optus Glean's operational problem, not the school's risk to absorb. The buyer pays a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope to be delivered, every day it is meant to be delivered. The mechanism by which we deliver it — primary, relief, bench, retraining — is our cost to manage and our risk to carry.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-06
