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

It would not be appropriate that I comment on discussions with public service unions which are ongoing under the aegis of the Labour Relations Commission.

The Deputy will be aware that the previous Government imposed a pay reduction of 10% on new entrants to the public service, and also decided that new entrants should enter on the first point of the relevant scale. This resulted in a combined reduction of 14% in the salary of new entrant teachers. More recently, this Government decided to abolish qualification allowances for all new beneficiaries with effect from 1 February 2012, as part of the public service-wide allowances review. In order to substantially mitigate the impact of this measure, it was decided that new entrant teachers, who will not be paid qualification allowances, will start on a new pay scale on a point equivalent to the fourth point of the existing scale.

In my view, this approach indicates a real understanding on the part of the Government of the issues facing young teachers.

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