Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 November 2013
116. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm that ASTI members will continue to be paid the annual supervision and substitution allowance of €1,769 gross, in view of the fact that this is not part of the Haddington Road agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42440/13]
View answerThe position is that the scheme of Supervision and Substitution, which included a payment of €1,769, can be changed in one of two ways. The first is by putting in place a collective agreement. This occurred in the case of TUI and INTO, as a consequence of which their members have available to them the various Government commitments under the Haddington Road Agreement, in particular the continuing payment of increments and improved pay scales. As ASTI has not to date accepted the provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement, its members have a freeze on the payment of increments and improved pay scales are not available to them. Alternatively, it is open to the Government to unilaterally change the terms of the Supervision and Substitution scheme as it is empowered to do by the Financial Emergency Measures legislation. To date, the Government has not exercised this option in the case of ASTI members. However, I have previously indicated, as has my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, that the continued payment of the supervision and substitution allowance to ASTI members is unsustainable. We have provided time and space for the recent discussions between officials from my Department and the ASTI in a final effort to resolve this issue, and it is now a matter for the membership of the ASTI to make their decision in relation to the outcome of those discussions. However, I would be less than frank if I did not make the point to the House that the payment of the supervision and substitution allowance cannot be continued. It is now a matter for the membership of the ASTI to make their decision in relation to the outcome of those discussions. I would like to take this opportunity to restate the significant benefits which will accrue to ASTI members if they accept the Haddington Road Agreement. These include:
- Improved levels of payment for newly qualified teachers
- A review of the usage of the 33 additional hours required by teachers under Croke Park
- A firm timetable on the establishment of an expert group to examine casualisation in the teaching profession
- The introduction of additional assistant principal posts to support the management of schools. I welcome the fact that the ASTI have agreed to re-ballot their members on the Haddington Road Agreement, and I hope that ASTI members will accept the benefits of the Agreement.
