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

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“recognises the vital role that the teaching profession plays in Irish society;

welcomes this Government’s ongoing commitment to providing for an adequate supply of teachers to meet the needs of schools;

notes that:

— as part of the Government’s plan to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe by 2026, the Government has prioritized investment in education with total investment in education increasing by €1 billion in the last two years;

— the additional investment which the government is making in education has allowed 5,000 additional teachers to be successfully recruited in the past two years, with the total number of teachers increasing from 61,380 in 2015/2016 to 66,454 in 2017/2018;

— the total number of teachers increased from 57,549 in 2012/2013 to 66,454 in 2017/2018 with the creation of over 8,900 new teaching positions;

— the Department of Education and Skills are now creating more new teaching positions than at any other period in the history of the State;

— in the last five years the number of graduates from initial teacher education programmes has remained constant with over 8,000 primary school teachers graduating from initial teacher education, and over 7,800 second-level teachers;

— an estimated 1,870 primary teachers and 1,523 post-primary teachers will graduate from initial teacher education programmes in 2018, which is in line with graduate levels in recent years;

— differential pay scales were introduced by the then Government in 2010, in response to the financial crisis;

— the Government is committed to achieving the right balance between addressing the legitimate expectations of public service workers for increases in their pay, while ensuring that the Government continues to exercise a prudent approach to the overall management of our public finances;

— the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform entered into an agreement with the teaching unions which resulted in newly qualified teachers receiving pay increases of 15-22 per cent, the second moiety of which was paid on 1st January, 2018, and that the starting pay for a newly qualified teacher straight out of college is now €35,958; and

— under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (the Agreement), the starting salary for a teacher straight out of college will be over €37,600 from October 2020;

recognises that the teacher unions have outstanding pay demands that this agreement does not meet in full - however it does represent significant progress, and does not close the door to the trade union movement seeking to advance the issue further;

further notes:

— the commitment in the new pay agreement to consider the issue of newly qualified pay within 12 months of the commencement of the Agreement and the commitment in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 to provide a report to the Oireachtas on this issue in March 2018, which will provide detailed cost estimates for pay restoration;

— that the equalisation of pay scales would mean that a newly qualified second-level teacher straight out of college would have a starting salary of €43,900 from October 2020, and that a primary school teacher straight out of college would have a starting salary of €41,500;

— that the full year cost of new entrant pay equalisation in the education and training sector would be in the order of €130 million and would be over €200m across the public service;

— that if the Department of Education and Skills spent €130m more in pay in 2018 it would mean that there would be less funding available to hire more new teachers, to hire new special needs assistants (SNAs), to invest in tackling educational disadvantage or to promote curriculum reform;

— the vital role that leadership plays in schools, and recognises the 2,600 extra promotional opportunities created in schools in the last year;

— that the number of teachers retiring from the profession has remained constant in the last three years, and that a similar number of retirements are expected in 2018 as in 2017;

— that the creation of over 1,000 net new teaching positions each year in primary schools in the last number of years have provided strong employment opportunities for primary school teachers graduating from initial teacher education programmes, and that as a result, some schools have reported a difficulty in hiring substitute teachers; and

— that, notwithstanding the fact that some 2,850 extra second-level teachers have been recruited in the last two years, that some second-level schools have reported some difficulties in recruiting teachers in certain subject areas;

acknowledges that the Minister for Education and Skills has taken a number of steps already to enhance the availability of retired teachers and teachers on career break for substitution purposes;

notes that the Minister for Education and Skills has received and considered the advice of the Teaching Council;

acknowledges that the Minister is considering a range of new policy interventions to deal with teacher supply and substitution issues in schools, and that a programme of action will be announced shortly; and

welcomes the undertaking of the Minister to consult and engage with partners in advancing initiatives.

I welcome this debate. However, it is important that we have a balanced debate on the issue of teaching supply and the trends in provision for teaching. It has been a major priority of mine to win additional resources in order that we can set as an ambition that by 2026, we would have the best education and training service in Europe. We have been rolling out a substantial investment both in teaching and in further and higher education - it is €1 billion extra in all.

I have provided additional resources to employ 5,000 additional teachers in just the past two years, which is a huge ramp-up in the pace of recruitment into the teaching profession. I have successfully filled that. That is 5,000 net posts. As there are retirements, the gross figure is that well over 7,000 people have been recruited into strong, permanent provisions in the education sector.

That has included restoring guidance counselling, reducing class size, providing for the roll-out of the junior cycle and many other very significant investments in the quality of our education system and supporting the teaching profession in delivering excellence. I have also taken other measures to substantially increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession. The Deputies opposite forget that it was me who negotiated, with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the restoration of 75% of the gap created in 2010 when entrant pay to the teaching profession was cut by the then Government. That was substantial progress on this issue. I recognise, as others have done, that the teachers' union continues to want to pursue this issue. The most recent pay agreement provided for just such a process and that started virtually immediately after the signing of the agreement. All teachers' unions are engaged in that process. That is a sign of the Government's good faith in this respect.

I have also increased the attractiveness of the teaching profession by providing for 3,000 additional promotion opportunities, which are very significant. I have been around the various conferences and met very young teachers who are taking leadership posts within schools as a result of the opening up of those positions. One in three posts within the teaching profession will be a promoted post. These are significant improvements. I have made it easier also to get a contract of indefinite duration because teachers were finding it hard to get permanent contracts and I negotiated improvements on that front.

It is important that while we consider this issue, we recognise very significant investment is being made in improved teacher supply and providing for priority areas where young people need support, be it in well-being, new systems of assessment, new subjects and so on. Overall, the graduation level of young people entering the teaching profession is stable. There are almost 3,500 graduates from the colleges. That number has been stable over recent years. The number of retirements has also been stable, if not falling, in recent times. They are in line with the Department's forecast.

See this speech in context