Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for a comprehensive set of answers. I agree that the debate went beyond where he expected to go. He is making it difficult for me to vote against this Bill as he has been so forthright in his answers but perhaps the Minister could clarify some issues.

With regard to the teacher who works up to 150 hours, the Minister has satisfied my concerns there. The teacher who is on a fixed-term contract - previously called the EPT contract - and who is over 150 hours per annum has a salary calculated on the point of the scale. If this teacher's take-home pay falls below the €32,000 or the point where he or she would benefit from the PRD reduction of 2.5% because the salary for the scale is above the cut-off figure, the teacher then falls into an anomalous section.

The Minister said he had an agreement. I congratulated him on both the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements, which we fought hard on. Many people within the trade union movement are very dependent upon this legislation getting through. However, I can see that we have two difficulties. One is gardaí and the other is teachers. Gardaí say the Minister has reneged on a promise which was a review of structures, remuneration and the industrial relations process within the Garda Síochána. I do not know if the Minister can address those concerns and I do not wish to put the Minister on the spot.

The other difficulty is that of flexible hours in the teaching profession and the institutes of technology in particular. The Minister referred to the lecturers' 78 flexible hours during a previous debate here. There is no cost in dealing with this issue. The teachers and lecturers just want someone to sit down with them to discuss the usage of those hours. In light of the junior certificate and the hated 33 hours that have been brought in under the Croke Park agreement - I believe that even school principals hate those hours - it is the usage of those hours that needs to be addressed. Sitting down and discussing these hours would not breach the Haddington Road or Lansdowne Road agreements. I ask the Minister that while he may not be able to give a commitment here, he could talk to his colleagues in the relevant Departments to see if they were willing to sit with the various representative bodies to solve this problem. Nobody wants this to fail. I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answers and for being so generous with his time.