Vol. 534 No. 3
294 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Science the reasons retired primary school teachers must forfeit their pension when acting in the capacity of temporary assistant teacher in place of a permanent teacher on a career break who is not in receipt of salary, but may retain their pension when acting as a substitute teacher for a permanent teacher on paid leave; and if he will take the necessary steps to repair this anomaly. [10402/01]
The superannuation scheme for national teachers provides that a pension will cease in the event of the return to wholetime work of a teacher who has retired on pension. At the end of the period of wholetime work, the pension will be resumed.
Payment of pension continues without interruption in the event of return to work in a part-time capacity as a substitute teacher.
A substitute teacher is employed to replace a teacher who is on paid leave of absence, for example, on sick leave. A temporary wholetime teacher is employed where there is no permanent teacher or where the permanent teacher is on unpaid leave of absence, for example, on a career break. These provisions are designed to ensure that two wholetime salaries will not be payable in respect of one teaching post.
Wholetime employment involves payment of incremental salary and allowances, with the exception of post of responsibility allowances, on the same basis as before retirement. On the other hand, employment as a substitute is on the basis of payment of the part-time daily rate, currently £81.18 per day. A substitute teacher who was employed throughout the school year, a very rare occurrence, would earn about £16,000 at current values. This is less than half of the rate of pay, more than £34,000 per year at current values, which would typically be payable to a teacher who takes up temporary wholetime work after retirement.
There are no plans at present to change the current provisions. They will, of course, be reviewed when the Part-time Worker's Bill has been enacted.
