Ms Sheila Nunan:

There is obviously a particular view among my colleagues and me on this matter. Education is the main area within the public sector that is hiring, as a consequence of demographic factors leading to increased demand. Fairly speedily after the announcement by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform of its intention to conduct a review and to freeze allowances from 1 February, the three teacher unions - ourselves, the ASTI and the TUI - wrote to the Department to express our great concern regarding the impact of that decision for young teachers who would be recruited in September and the long-term impact on the profession. My colleagues and I are agreed on the importance of recruiting the best quality candidates into teaching and of retaining them in the longer term. With rising pension ages, we are talking about teachers coming into the profession at 22, 23 or 24 years of age and being expected to remain in the profession into their mid-60s and beyond.