Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am disappointed at the way in which amendments were ruled out of order. A number were amendments that I had tabled. I will speak to Deputy Dara Calleary's amendment since it can follow from one of my previous two amendments that had been ruled out of order. I support the amendment. It is not ideal because the ideal is to have pay restoration and equalisation. That is needed in education. If this amendment is accepted, a process can begin which would allow that to happen. I proposed in my amendment that equalisation would apply by 1 January 2019; therefore, if the amendment is accepted, there is an opportunity that could still be realised. Overall, the discrimination is extremely unfair against those entrants appointed on or after 1 January 2011. It affects staff morale and it is a group that is already disproportionately affected by the cuts that came in the recessionary budgets.

Like others, I have been contacted by quite a number of teachers who are affected. Some of the emails came from people appointed since 2011 who are directly affected, but a significant number also came from teachers who were appointed pre-2011, so they are not directly affected. They are all concerned about the unfairness in this inequality. Nobody wants to take industrial action because there is obviously a loss of earnings but there are measures that unions and their members cannot tolerate. I hope there will be a commitment to the process suggested and that it is not going to be an empty gesture but will lead to real progress on the matter. There is a crisis in teaching, in finding substitute cover in primary schools, cover for career breaks and for many subjects at second level. We need to encourage people to go into teaching and I know there are difficulties with it. I had a question for the Minister for Education and Skills on this matter which came from my direct experience in chairing a board of management of a primary school. We spent two days, one in August and one in September, trying to cover posts and we were back again in October for another day. We are still struggling due to the situation. I know the Minister, Deputy Bruton, might think that these shortages are sporadic but the facts are present in surveys and reports done by various unions.

Pre-service training for post-primary teachers, for example, of which I was one, is now two years long. Instead of the one year Higher Diploma in Education, there is now a two-year programme, the fees are between €9,000 and €15,000 and there is a loss of income for one year. As they are starting a year later, they are at an immediate disadvantage in terms of their position on the scale. It is a matter of equality, fairness and attracting people into teaching. We must value education because everything else in society will follow from education. We have to restore pay. Nobody goes into teaching to make a fortune. I certainly did not back in the early 1970s. One goes into teaching because of the regard and love one has for children and one's belief in the value of education. I hope the amendment, if it proceeds, will see a restoration of the fairness that has been lacking in the past few years.

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