Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

96. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding the new entrant pay issue and related commitments of September 2016 to resolve or address the issue of the payment of the higher diploma allowance to second level teachers in view of the fact that it is a two year course, the costs of the course and that teachers cannot teach without it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22840/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The withdrawal of the Higher Diploma in Education allowance in 2012 following the public service-wide allowances review was one of a number of measures taken by the Government to stabilise the public finances.

The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I, together with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, negotiated a 15-22% pay increase for new teachers. The agreements to date have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver convergence of the pay scales at later points in the scale.

As a result of these changes, the current starting salary of a new teacher is €35,958 and from 1 October 2020 onwards will be €37,692.

To have gone further than the pay increases that have been negotiated for 2018 would mean I would have had less money available to hire over 1,000 extra SNAs and over 1,000 extra teachers.

Differential pay scales were introduced by the then Government in 2010. It must be borne in mind that the pay reduction for post-2011 entrants applied to all public servants and not just teachers, and that any restoration of these measures in respect of teachers would be expected to be applied elsewhere across the public service.

In accordance with the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform recently laid before the Oireachtas a report on the matter of the pay of new entrants to the public service. The report assesses the cost of a further change which would provide a two scale point adjustment to new entrants recruited since 2011. The total cost of such an adjustment across the public sector is of the order of €200 million, of which Education accounts for €83 million. The report also acknowledges that during the financial crisis there were policy changes which affected remuneration in different occupations across the public sector (including education). Addressing any issues arising from changes which are not specifically detailed in the report would give rise to additional costs over and above the foregoing figures.

Any further negotiation on new entrant pay is a cross sectoral issue, not just an issue for the education sector. The Government also supports the gradual, negotiated repeal of the FEMPI legislation, having due regard to the priority to improve public services and in recognition of the essential role played by public servants.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform’s report will inform discussion on remaining salary scale issues with the parties to the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 in accordance with the commitment in the Agreement to consider the issue of newly qualified pay. That process commenced with a first meeting on 12 October 2017.  The three teacher unions attended that first meeting. Further talks began on the 27th of April with all public service unions in relation to new entrant pay. I understand that further engagement is being arranged for early June as the parties continue to work through the various aspects of this issue.

The issue of the allowance is also on the agenda of the Teachers Conciliation Council, which is the recognised forum for dealing with claims relating to pay and terms of employment of teachers.