Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether it is fair that teachers are to be disproportionately impacted by the cut to allowances for new entrants to the public service; if he accepts that qualification allowances for teachers are important in terms of ensuring we have a highly educated teaching force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41925/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Government recently approved a number of measures relating to public service allowances for new beneficiaries. This follows a public service-wide review of allowances and premium payments conducted by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The main measure affecting teachers is the withdrawal of qualification allowances for new entrant teachers. The Government has decided that the payment of allowances for the basic qualifications required for entry to the teaching profession is no longer appropriate or necessary. This allowance goes back many years to the time when a distinction was made between teaching colleges and university qualifications. It is not considered justifiable to incur a permanent cost to the public service pay and pensions bill where a public servant acquires an additional qualification. The payment of allowances, such as the Gaeltacht and island allowances, are being withdrawn or altered for all new beneficiaries in the public service, including new teachers. These allowances are no longer considered the most appropriate way to meet the business needs of public service employers or the service delivery needs of Irish language speakers. The Government was mindful of the impact of the abolition of the qualifications allowance on new teachers given that the allowances have come to be viewed as an element of basic pay. It therefore sought to ensure broad consistency of impact across sectors. In this context, it has been agreed that new entrant teachers will no longer receive qualification allowances but will start on a salary of €30,702 which is equivalent to the fourth point of the existing salary scale. They will also have the option of being paid a pensionable allowance of €1,592 for supervision and substitution, thereby bringing their starting salary to €32,294.