Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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935. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding teachers' pay (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21362/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Due to worsening economic circumstances, the previous Government reduced 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.

Subsequently, 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 As part of this, certain allowances were withdrawn for new beneficiary teachers, including qualification allowances.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 pay scales 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 such allowances as remain payable to post-1 February 2012 entrants were restored to pre-2011 levels as part of this measure.