asked the Minister for Education if he will state when it is intended to bring into force the new salary scales for vocational teachers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Vocational Teachers' Salaries.
The question of the salary scales of vocational teachers is under consideration, but a decision has not yet been reached in regard to it.
Immediately a decision has been arrived at, the appropriate bodies will be notified accordingly.
asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that both he and his predecessor have promised on several occasions to grant salary scales to vocational teachers not less favourable than those awarded to secondary teachers and in addition to establish a scheme of conciliation and arbitration for vocational teachers; and, if so, if he will now state whether he will implement these promises with retrospective effect in view of the long delay in considering the claims.
I am not aware that either my predecessor or I promised on any occasion either to grant to vocational teachers salary scales that would be not less favourable than those awarded to secondary teachers or to establish a scheme of conciliation and arbitration for vocational teachers.
An answer to the second part of the question, therefore, does not arise.
Whether a promise was or was not made, does the Minister not consider it desirable to put vocational teachers on the same basis?
That is a separate question.
When the Minister says no promise was made by his predecessor to establish a scheme of conciliation and arbitration, surely he does understand that the most urgent and practical discussions were taking place between his predecessor and the representatives of the vocational teachers with a view to discovering some method by which to give them conciliation and arbitration machinery similar to that arranged for the secondary and primary teachers?
I am not exactly aware of that.
Would the Minister look into the matter with a view to establishing that fact? Surely his statement would imply that there was no intention, even apart from any promise, of providing this machinery. The Minister must understand that the difficulty with regard to its establishment was due to the relationship of vocational teachers to local authorities?
What about the Roe Commission? Has that been implemented yet?
The Deputy is aware, of course, that it is not exactly the State that employs vocational teachers and these teachers are not in exactly the same position as the secondary or primary teachers.
That is what I want to imply.
Whatever the future may hold, it would be impossible to deal with the matter in the manner suggested by the Deputy up to now at any rate.
In relation to the future, I take it the Minister appreciates that I am concerned with the future and I do not want the future to be prejudiced by any implication in the Minister's statement now but no promise was made to the vocational teachers that conciliation and arbitration machinery would be established. While that was not explicit, nevertheless active consultations were taking place with the vocational teachers implying not only such a promise but the urgent intention of giving them the same machinery as existed between secondary teachers and primary teachers.
Would the Minister not agree that in recent times vocational teachers have been pretty much thrown around between the local authorities and State Departments? Will he further not agree that it is time something was done for them?
I do not think the Minister can answer for me in the same way as he answered before—that they were thrown around. I do not think they were and that is completely untrue and nonsensical.
I am glad to note that the Deputy is concerned for the future and not so much for the past.