Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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784. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide in tabular form the starting salary grade for a newly employed teacher at both primary and post primary level for each year from 2005 to 2014; the available allowances to a newly employed teacher; if she has had discussions with Department officials or the Department of Public Expenditure regarding reviewing this system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1084/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Teachers' Common Basic Scale and allowances available to newly employed teachers between 2005 and 2014 are set out in the attached table. Not all of the allowances listed were available to every teacher as entitlement was based on the qualifications held by the individual and/or the nature of the post for which they were employed.

Teacher salaries increased between 2005 and 2009 as the result of various public service productivity agreements. Due to the worsening economic circumstances, the Government introduced a pay reduction for all public servants (including teachers) with effect from 1 January 2010 under the financial emergency measures legislation.

Subsequently, the Government decided to reduce the salaries and allowances payable of all new entrants to public service recruitment grades (including teachers) by 10% with effect from 1 January 2011 and required that such new entrants would start on the first point of the applicable salary scale. Prior to this, teachers entered on the second or third point of the salary scale as they were entitled to incremental credit in respect of their professional training.

Arising from the public service-wide review of allowances and premium payments, the Government decided to withdraw or modify allowances for new beneficiary public servants with effect from 1 February 2012. As part of this, certain allowances were withdrawn for new beneficiary teachers, including qualification allowances. However, the Government partially compensated for this by deciding that new entrant teachers would henceforth commence on a new salary scale which had a starting point higher than the starting point of the old scale.

Under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013 – 2016 (Haddington Road Agreement), revised payscales for post-1 January 2011 and post-1 February 2012 entrants to teaching were agreed and implemented with effect from 1 July 2013.

The Haddington Road Agreement further provided that the salary imbalance between those who entered the public service since 2011 and those who entered before that date would be addressed. In that regard, my Department implemented a further revised incremental salary scale for teachers who entered teaching between 1 January 2011 and 31 January 2012 with effect from 1 November 2013. Allowances payable to post-1 January 2011 entrants and those allowances which remain payable to post-1 February 2012 entrants were restored to pre-2011 levels as part of this measure.