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

As I explained to the Deputy, during the recession restrictions were imposed on the pay of new entrants. That applied right across the public service. It is not a matter solely for teachers. That is an issue that has been tabled within the context of the Lansdowne Road agreement. We sat down with the teaching unions that signed up to that agreement, namely, the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, and negotiated on the basis of their agenda. As a result of those negotiations, we have closed the gap to effectively three quarters of the lifetime earnings. The scales have now been merged at certain points so that they are identical for particular parts of the career. I have no doubt that pay for new entrants will be an issue in the next pay round and we will again sit down with all of the trade unions and seek to negotiate the issues - along with other demands they might have - in the context of a successor agreement. We are now negotiating with the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, ASTI, in the Teachers Conciliation Council to seek to resolve that and many other issues that have been raised.

I say to Deputy Boyd Barrett, although he might not like to hear it, that we must strike a balance. For example, carers did not get an increase for eight years but this year we were able to give them an increase. We must balance the resources we have available with the different demands, rightful demands for pay restoration but also rightful demands for investment in health, housing and homelessness, for which the Deputy will also articulate a need.

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