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

Equality and fairness are, of course, at the heart of everything this Government is trying to do, particularly in the education area where I am particularly focused on creating better opportunities for people from disadvantaged communities in our schools system and in higher education. The recent budget included measures seek to do this.

The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration to start. I have used this to negotiate substantial improvements in pay for new teachers. The agreement reached with the TUI and the INTO in September will see pay rises of between 15% and 22%, that is between €4,600 and €6,700, for new entrant teachers. The agreements also provide for earlier permanency for younger teachers, new promotion opportunities and new flexibilities in working hours. The pay increases for new teachers were, of course, also available to ASTI members but unfortunately in a recent ballot they were not carried.

The agreements have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver full equality at later points in the scale. This is substantial progress and strikes an equitable balance with other claims for funding on my Department, particularly for example enhanced services for children with special educational needs, disadvantaged schools, growing schools, higher education and apprenticeships. I could list many more.

Further negotiation on new entrant pay cannot focus on just one sector. A broader assessment of pay and new entrant pay across the public service will be informed by the analysis of the Public Service Pay Commission, and it will look at individual sectors such as teaching. I accept the teachers' unions have outstanding pay demands and that the new entrant deal does not travel the full distance they set out to achieve. However, it does represent significant progress and the door is not closed to the trade union movement seeking to advance the issue further in the context of future public service pay talks. Negotiations on a successor agreement to the Lansdowne Road agreement will shortly get under way.

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