Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 March 2013
234. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that those who started teaching prior to 1 February 2012 will not be considered as new entrants for the purposes of the new pay scales, even if the had not qualified by that date, in line with previous commitments made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14766/13]
View answer236. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the implications for substitute teachers arising from recent circulars issued by his Department that stated any work conducted prior to 2011 must have been in a qualified capacity and teachers must have been registered with the Teaching Council during that time; if this change will mean teachers paid under the old guidelines have their pay reassessed retrospectively; and the estimated savings as a result of this change in the payment guidelines. [14770/13]
View answer263. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Education and Skills with reference to a recent missive issued by his Department to secondary school teachers, if he will explain the reason work that was conducted by teachers prior to 2011 must have been conducted by qualified teachers who were registered with the Teaching Council; if he will outline the incentives that his Department is putting in place for newly qualified teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15130/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 234, 236 and 263 together. In replying to these questions I think it would be useful if I set out the sequence of policy and budgetary measures in relation to new appointees to teaching and their pay entitlements.
The first measure took effect on 1 September 2010. It requires that, in order to be eligible to receive the qualified rate of pay and allowances, a person on their first appointment to teaching must be registered with the Teaching Council and appropriately qualified for that position or sector. This was introduced for the purpose of ensuring quality and promoting professional standards in teaching and this goal has been strongly supported by the teacher unions.
The second measure was taken as part of Budget 2011. The last Government applied a reduction in the pay of new entrants to the public service. In the case of new teachers, a reduction of 10% was applied to pay and certain allowances and all new teachers were required to start on the first point of the scale rather than the third point as had previously been the case for most teachers. The new pay rates applied to all teachers who were new appointees appointed on or after 1 January 2011. Where a person gave any service - qualified or unqualified - in an analogous teaching position before 1 January 2011, he or she was not regarded as a new appointee to teaching and so was not affected by this measure.
The third measure formed part of Budget 2012 and related to qualification allowances. The Government announced that additional qualification allowances would not be payable to existing teachers and new teachers would be paid qualification allowances up to a maximum of the allowance applicable to an honours primary degree level.
Furthermore, in 2012 a public service-wide review of allowances was also carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and, pending its outcome, the payment of qualification allowances was suspended with effect from 1 February 2012. As a result of the review, the Government abolished qualification allowances with effect from that date and a new salary scale was created with a starting point equivalent to the fourth point of the previous scale. This reduced the impact of the ending of the qualification allowances and ensured a broad consistency across the public service.
The introduction of this new salary scale has been a complex task which has required a detailed implementation process. My Department, in consultation with VECs, is working through the operational aspects of these changes as they affect existing teachers and their pay. It is also worth noting that the recent proposals put forward by the Labour Relations Commission on an extension to the Croke Park Agreement include a proposal that would address the imbalance between those who entered the teaching profession since 2011 and those who entered before that date. These proposals are currently being considered by the membership of the public service trade unions at this time.
