Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach does not accept that the Government has a responsibility for the current situation in which over 500 schools are closed. This represents 70% of the secondary school sector. A total of 250,000 students are affected. Tens of thousands of them are in examination years, including the leaving certificate. They are missing out on valuable course work and their family schedules and routines are up in the air. It also affects thousands of teachers who have made it very clear that they would rather be in their classrooms instead of on picket lines. Yesterday, they were effectively locked out of their workplaces. They are engaged in industrial action because of very legitimate concerns about their pay and conditions. Those concerns are shared across the public sector following seven years of pay cuts. The Taoiseach should know this as a former teacher. It has particularly impacted because this was one area in the public sector in which there was a large number of new recruits over the past ten years.

The issue of pay equality cannot be dodged and must be addressed. It is very simple and straightforward - equal pay for equal work. In 2016, surely the Government can accept that basic principle but not one Minister is prepared to agree to the principle of pay equality let alone set out a timetable for when it might be achieved. Young teachers are earning up to €8,000 less per year than their colleagues who were hired before 2012. Is that fair? Clearly, it is not about equality but it is obviously acceptable to the Government.

Even though gardaí have to vote on the package, last week's negotiations with An Garda Síochána surely show that the issues at play are not insurmountable. Agreement can be reached. What is required is a meaningful dialogue that sets out a clear and sensible path to the provision of pay equality. The Taoiseach knows that this cannot wait until 2018. A new pay agreement is needed. The Lansdowne Road agreement is clearly críochnaithe and must be replaced.

The issue of allowances also has to be dealt with. That would go a long way towards satisfying teachers' concerns. It is obvious that pay equality needs to be put in place sooner rather than later. Putting it on the long finger as Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have done so many times in the past will not resolve the issue. Will the Taoiseach, on behalf of the Government, accept the principle of pay equality? He should accept it without equivocation. Will the Government open dialogue with the ASTI on that basis? Does the Taoiseach agree that the Lansdowne Road agreement must be replaced with a new agreement that sets out a clear timetable for having a single pay scale for all public sector workers and the restoration of allowances?

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