Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like Deputy Lisa Chambers, I thank Deputy Thomas Byrne who has given us a chance to enter into this debate. Like other Members on this side of the House, I met teachers' representatives in the Roscommon-Galway constituency.

Unequal pay in the teaching profession must end. That is the bottom line. Those who began teaching in 2012 will earn over €100,000 less over a 40-year career than people who began prior to 2011. To date, a teacher who entered the profession in 2012 has lost out to the tune of almost €30,000. That would be a nice deposit if some of those young teachers wanted to build houses. The current position is grossly unfair and the Minister knows it. Pay inequality is a major contributing factor to the lack of available substitute teachers at primary level. Children are missing out while many new teachers educated and trained in Ireland by the taxpayer end up going abroad. I heard a Minister state, only in recent days, that we have to stop these teachers going abroad. The fact is that they cannot afford to stay here. They are being forced out. Those teachers are heading off, as Deputy Lisa Chambers stated, to places such as Dubai because they are not getting fair treatment here. The sad fact of the matter is that they are heading abroad to receive equal pay and proper rights.

In spite of the pay cuts and in spite of still-too-high class sizes in this country, I want to pay a glowing tribute to our primary and secondary school teachers.

In this day and age they face many challenges they did not have to face in the past, and I think every Deputy in this Chamber recognises that. Therefore, I say to them, "Well done," and I hope their unions will bring back that message loud and clear from this side of the House. I accept that some progress was made between 2013 and 2016 and that the qualification allowance is now incorporated into the pay of post-2012 entrants into teaching. However, we still have two pay scales, which is not acceptable. Like my colleagues here, I hope the Minister will take on board what we are saying, listen to the unions and, once and for all, bring this to an end.

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