Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to reverse the pay cuts imposed by her Government and the previous Administration on new entrant teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44041/15]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Does the Minister plan to reverse the pay cuts imposed by her Government and the previous Administration on new entrant teachers? I raise this question because this is a grave injustice to many young teachers and new entrants to the teaching profession. Not only is it bad for teachers, it is also very bad for education, staff relations, all our schools and the education service. We need to reverse these cuts and end this injustice.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Since the beginning of the financial crisis, there has been a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure. These measures were implemented at a time of very difficult financial and budgetary circumstances for the State. Since first entering Government, we have been committed to achieving such reductions through negotiation. The Haddington Road agreement, to which teacher unions are parties, saw negotiated decreases to public sector pay. That agreement also began the process of addressing the salary imbalance between new and longer-serving teachers. This process has continued under the Lansdowne Road agreement.

The issue of equalised pay scales was not one which could be resolved in the talks. However, the Lansdowne Road agreement will, through salary increases and a reduction in the pension related deduction, begin the process of restoring the reductions to public service pay which were implemented over recent years. These flat-rate increases will be proportionately more favourable to new entrants to teaching, who are lower on the pay scale, than to longer serving teachers. We look forward to seeing the further restoration of public service pay levels as our economy continues to recover strongly.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Let us address the core issue. Does the Minister support unequal pay? How can she support the fact that two teachers doing exactly the same job are paid vastly different salaries because one was appointed a day before the other? The new entry pay for teachers is a major concern, particularly for primary schoolteachers. The issue of equal pay is broader in that it is not only an equality issue but a broader trade union issue. If we take account of the details, the pay cuts for 2011 entrants and the removal of allowances from entrants from 2012 were never discussed, never mind agreed, with the teachers' unions.

The 10% cut for 2011 entrants, along with starting on the first rather than the second point on the scale, were imposed in the budget by the previous Government. The cuts to allowances were unilaterally imposed by the current Government. Will the Minister condemn and oppose these unilateral actions? I believe the teachers have taken a claim to the equality tribunal that the salary cuts amount to discrimination on age grounds. I ask the Minister to look at this again as it is a broader issue than just a grave injustice. There is also an equality issue involved.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The pay agreements are part of the way in which these things function in Ireland. The Haddington Road agreement was signed up to by all the teaching unions. The Lansdowne Road agreement was signed up to by the INTO although the other two unions have issues with it. As I said in my opening remarks, the emphasis in the Lansdowne Road agreement is on restoring salaries to lower paid workers first, which obviously benefits those who have come in on the lower scales.

It is not practical to imagine that no change to entry salaries for public servants would ever be envisaged. Entry salaries are a matter of consideration depending on where the economy is at a particular time. It is not something we can say will never happen; it does happen. What we have tried to do, and are doing in Lansdowne Road in particular, is to put the emphasis on lower paid workers in general, including the newer teachers who are on the lower scale.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I hope negotiations lead to ending this inequality and injustice. The former president of the INTO, Anne Fay, told a rally of thousands of teachers in 2012 that the Government could not defend separate salary scales for teachers doing the same work. She also said that the Government decided to introduce discriminatory and inequitable pay scales for new teachers, and that the teachers' unions opposed that decision and will overturn it no matter how long it takes. She described the pay cuts for new teachers as an affront to the core trade union principle of equal pay for equal work. It is very important that we get on and deal with this issue. I urge the Minister to revisit it and phase out the cuts over time. I believe the INTO is very flexible on that aspect of the matter.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I have no doubt that the INTO and the other teaching unions will represent their members very effectively in these kinds of negotiations, as they always do. We do have negotiations that are agreed and are being implemented by the Government. There was a time when percentage increases always happened, as a result of which we had very big gaps between the better-paid and lower-paid people. We have now started using flat-rate increases, which I believe is an improvement in terms of equality as it ensures that the gap narrows.

The issues raised by Deputy McGrath are constantly subjects of negotiation and will, I am sure, remain so into the future.