Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Approximately 11,000 teachers have qualified since 2011 and are on pay scales lower than those of their colleagues who qualified prior to that year. Over the next 12 months, demographic pressures mean that another 5,000 teachers will enter this cohort. If the Government led by the Fine Gael Party sticks to its commitment under the confidence-and-supply agreement to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio, that number will rise even higher. The public service pay stability agreement recently agreed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions provides that an examination of the salary scale issues for new entrants to the public sector will take place within one year of the adoption of the agreement. As the House knows, the agreement has been roundly rejected by the INTO and the TUI and will be the subject of a ballot by members of the ASTI in the coming weeks.

The context here is a massive flight of young teachers to Dubai and other countries that are also recruiting Irish teachers. This is taking place against a background where we require teachers, particularly at second level but also at primary level, to be more qualified than ever before, with the attendant expense that goes with that. What is the timescale for the examination, under the public service stability agreement, of the salary scales of new entrants to the public sector in general and to teaching in particular, where a huge number of workers are affected?

When will the talks commence on this matter? What plans does the Government have to start this process? What plans does it have to show newly qualified teachers - they are becoming older as the years go by - a pathway so that they can get full pay scale equality with their more senior counterparts?

That is what we are looking for here. There has been a bit of devilment at times on the Government side with claims that somebody with more years’ experience gets more pay. This is not about pay but about pay scales. These teachers are on lower pay scales. It is having a hugely detrimental effect on morale in our schools and is massively contributing to the teacher shortage, an issue about which I have already suggested the Minister is not doing enough. I want answers from the Minister in the clearest possible terms which he and the Government have not yet given.

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