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

-----the way in which teachers are employed involves increments so that they are not paid equal amounts. It depends on their experience. One teacher could earn up to €60,000. However, a person recruited last year will under the deal I negotiated see an increase of €6,700 in their pay to €37,700 in January 2018. As Deputy Boyd Barrett is aware, during the crash there were changes in public service pay and to the pay of new entrants. We have used the opportunities presented by the talks relating to the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements to negotiate changes. Under those negotiations, I have restored three quarters of the lifetime earnings for new entrants who were affected by the change. I have no doubt that the issue of pay for new entrants will again be on the agenda in the context of a successor agreement. We will sit down with unions across the public sector, not just with one union whose members are outside the Lansdowne Road agreement. We must address the issue in a way that is fair to all trade unions and to all those who were impacted upon by the changes to pay for new entrants. That is the approach we will take and it is the approach that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, has outlined.

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