Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The pay reductions have been implemented for all of us, including Members of the Oireachtas and Ministers. These were implemented on the first payday after 1 July. The teachers need time to reflect on this and I hope they will come to a decision. I do not want to state anything which would prejudice this or interfere with the outcome. It is a matter for teachers.

The Cabinet has not yet discussed capital assets measures. I was given a definition of working capital as cash required to run a business, and some businesses have a cyclical nature. Most of the revenue for a bookshop comes in between September and December, which is when the vast bulk of books are sold in this country. There are businesses which by their nature are cyclical but have fixed costs requiring payment throughout a 12 month period. Anybody in a business of a cyclical nature, whether a farm or another business, must have cash reserves to function. A capital asset which generates an income is also in this area, for example a property generating rent above and beyond mortgage repayments becomes an asset. There are clear definitions in economics and accountancy which can measure this. We have made a clear distinction in informal discussions but no decision has yet been made on it.

With regard to young teachers and new teachers, in our education system at post-primary and primary level we have a public private partnership between the State and school patrons. The State pays the salaries of teachers, sets the curriculum, and provides for the inspectorate at primary school level and the junior certificate and leaving certificate examinations at post-primary level. The private sector patrons hire the teachers and manage the schools. The patrons used to provide much of the infrastructure but now this is provided by the State. It has been continually brought to my attention that in many cases retired teachers are being brought back from retirement and hired as substitute teachers, in some cases for quite a long period of time. We have issued circulars which reflect my concern that any vacancy should be made available to young teachers, but we cannot direct schools to do this because as part of the private public partnership contract it is in their side of the house. Even though all primary schools teachers, including principals and young staff, are in the same union, namely, the INTO, which has frequently stated young teachers rather than retired teachers should be hired for substitute work, it is a decision we can wish to have changed but we cannot do anything directly to make it change because it is not part of our side of the equation.