Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This issue has started to be addressed within the context of the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements, in that the former introduced an element of co-ordination of payscales to counter some of the impact. Under the Lansdowne Road agreement, teachers will get a flat-rate increase of €1,000 as well as the substitution payment of €796. These will be proportionally more valuable to young teachers at the bottom of the scale.

As the pay commission gets established, this matter will be a priority concern. It has not only been raised by teacher unions but by many groups across the public service. It needs to be addressed but in a collective approach to bargaining, which is the approach being taken by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I support that approach.

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