Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is important not to confuse this issue with the whole question of incremental pay scales. We are talking about a cohort of teachers who are starting on a lower salary than their colleagues started on, which means that, over the course of their teaching career, they will be substantially penalised as a result. There is a significant sense that younger teachers who have come in are being less favourably treated and this is simply not fair. There is also a strong sense on the part of members of teacher unions that they cannot continue to tolerate a situation where they are working alongside younger teachers who are very clearly being discriminated against. There is now a strong sense of solidarity among the teaching profession and that sense is not going to change. There is a strong sense that people have been badly treated and left behind, which is having a very negative impact on morale. The Minister needs to take action on this earlier than he has set out.

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