Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the issues surrounding the new entrant pay scales of primary level education teachers will be resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28370/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA), provided that an examination of remaining salary scale issues in respect of post January 2011 recruits at entry grades would be undertaken within 12 months of the commencement of the Agreement.

Additionally this Government accepted an amendment at Section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, that within 3 months of the passing of the Act, I would prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the cost of and a plan in dealing with pay equalisation for new entrants to the public service.

This was a significant body of work and staff resources from within the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service (IGEES) were assigned to collect, collate and examine the data and provide detailed point in time costs associated with the measure.

In accordance with the legislation I submitted a report to the Oireachtas on the 16th of March. This report, and the substantial amount of data and analysis underpinning it provide a valuable evidence base for consideration of this matter. The report shows that there has been strong recruitment since 2011 to the estimated 237 recruitment grades across the public service, with over 60,500 new entrants hired. This includes over 16,000 teachers and nearly 5,000 Special Needs Assistants. Full year costs based on a two point increment jump for those effected were estimated at approximately €200m.

Discussions on this issue with public service trade unions and representative associations, commenced in October of last year. Further discussions are continuing as the parties continue to work through the various aspects of this issue.