Jim O'Keeffe
Question:29 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education her views on the adequacy of the procedures for resolution of disputes on teachers' claims.
Written Answers. - Dispute Procedures.
Schemes of conciliation and arbitration for teachers have been in operation since the fifties. The present scheme was agreed in 1973 and has by and large worked well as a means of dealing with claims and proposals from the teacher unions. However, claims for improvements in conditions of service, other than pay and allowances, are not covered under the terms of the scheme. I consider that the absence of conditions of service from the ambit of the scheme is unsatisfactory because it means that all claims involving teachers' pay and conditions are not addressed at the same forum.
On a more general note my colleague, the Minister for Finance, indicated in his recent budget speech that the Government is totally committed to changing the public service pay determination system. He pointed out that we intend, through discussions with the public service unions, to press forward during 1993 with the introduction of a new system which would be more transparent and operate on assessment criteria which, while being fair to staff, would be responsive to the interests of the Government and the community as taxpayers. This issue will form part of the agenda for the ongoing discussions with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which have commenced following an invitation from the Minister for Finance.