asked the Minister for Education whether, and if so when, it is proposed to relieve urban authorities, who have established vocational schools, from liability to bear 50 per cent. of the retiring allowances and gratuities payable to teachers in such schools; and also, if he will state the reasons for continuing to impose upon rating authorities such an obligation which, in the case of primary and other teachers, is accepted as the sole responsibility of the State.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Urban Authorities' Rating Obligations.
The obligation of local authorities, including urban authorities, for the retiring allowances and gratuities of teachers and other pensionable officers employed by the vocational education committees appointed by these authorities, is fixed by Section 25 of the Vocational Education Act, 1930. Under subsection (3) of that section the local authorities are refunded by means of a State grant one half the cost of these allowances and gratuities, and it is not proposed to alter that arrangement. The teachers in question are local officers, appointed and employed by the local vocational education committees, and it is in accordance with the normal practice that the obligation for their pensions and retiring gratuities should be borne by the local authorities. It is not correct to assume that this obligation is accepted as the sole responsibility of the State in the case of all other teachers, as the pensions of secondary teachers are paid from a pension fund to which the schools managers and the teachers contribute.