Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for agreeing to put this issue on the agenda and the Minister for Education and Skills for coming to the House to discuss it. Yesterday there was an announcement from the Minister's colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, in regard to the issue of allowances in the public sector. He rowed back on previous commitments to find savings of €75 million this year and €150 million next year in allowances in the public sector pay bill. However, despite the Minister bottling it on those commitments - undoubtedly some allowances are from a different era - he had no problem targeting those who have yet to enter the public service and who are not in a position to stand up for themselves.

I speak in particular about new entrants to teaching. Yesterday the Minister announced that new entrants will not be entitled to the €4,500 qualification allowance which was an acknowledgment of higher education achievements and higher qualifications among entrants into teaching and to ensure we had a very highly qualified teaching team.

How does the Minister plan to operate an education system which will need 3,000 new teachers at primary level in the coming years to deal with population growth? How will he operate a system which pays these 3,000 teachers salaries which are far lower than what their colleagues receive? What assessment has he done on the impact it will have on the education system and how will he ensure highly qualified individuals will continue to become teachers in this country?

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