asked the Minister for Education if it is his intention to award to secondary teachers the balance of the 11th round which was negotiated for employees in the public sector.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers (Resumed). - Pay of Secondary Teachers.
90.
At a meeting of the conciliation council for secondary teachers on 13th October, 1969, a salary offer was made by the official side. This offer is under consideration by the teachers' side and it would not be proper to make any further comment on the matter at this stage.
Is the Minister aware that the proposals coming from him at this stage amount to a request to teachers to revert to the position prior to last February which led to the withdrawal of teachers' services at that time?
As I have said, firstly the offer which we have made emanated from the conciliation council and this is confidential; secondly, the teachers have not finally made their decision on it known to me. I should like to remind the Deputy—I am sure he is well aware of it already—that the whole matter of teachers' salaries is very difficult and complex. Since I became Minister I have spent a considerable part of my time endeavouring to get agreement on the whole matter of salaries and I would request the Deputy not to pursue the question further at this time.
I will not press the Minister too hardly. However, I wish to ask him to remember that Professor Ryan's original recommendations—I am open to correction here: it may have been more recently—stated that it is impossible to resolve this matter without reference to a common system for all teachers and—I quote—"which all teachers are prepared to accept." This is the nub of the whole question. All teachers must be prepared to accept this proposal and there should be no effort made to force people to accept something which they do not accept.
I can assure the Deputy that it is not as simple as all that.