Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We negotiated with the teacher unions the thorny issue of payment for substitution and supervision, which came in relatively recently. When I started teaching, there was no such allowance for supervision. It was part of normal duties but was subsequently introduced as an allowance. There was much controversy surrounding the complete review of allowances conducted by both my own Department and by the Committee of Public Accounts. It was determined that we should suspend theses allowances for the duration of this crisis and over time fold them back into core pay. That is what I hope will be done but obviously, it is contingent upon the totality of the agreement being agreed by everybody, because one cannot pick and choose bits of it. We have had that discussion for the last hour or two hours.