Seanad debates

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, very much so. I am very much to the point today.

I am speaking about the terms and conditions of work and the enormous disparity in pay. The average teacher's pay in this area is approximately €18 an hour but some of them are only paid €13. Many of them are only allowed to work a 30-hour week and if we put this in the context of a 39-hour week and average it out, they receive less than the minimum wage. This is something about which we should be concerned. It comes under terms and conditions of work.

There is also the absence of any payment for non-contact hours. I was a teacher in Trinity College Dublin. If I had only been paid for the hours that I lectured, I would have received half of what I did. Quite a lot of time is spent on marking essays at home, preparing for lectures and so on. There is as much work outside of the classroom as there is inside and to have no pay at all for this is a violation of workers' rights.

Then there is the question of entitlement to sick pay. Most of the schools involved do not have any sick pay arrangements. That is dreadful because it is a hazard of life that people get sick. What are they to do? They will be stranded. There is also a nasty element with regard to holiday pay. I was shocked that people were let go just before Christmas and hired again in January just so that they did not have to be paid over the holidays. That is Dickensian and certainly should not be allowed. A range of issues must be confronted and resolved through the application of a minimum employment standard. I certainly hope if the Minister of State does not accept these amendments that we, as independent parliamentarians and party members, will stand for the workers and vote these amendments through.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.