asked the Minister for Education why persons entering secondary teaching from employment in the public service. State enterprises or non-aided primary teaching do not receive incremental credit for such service when similar persons entering vocational teaching receive such credit.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Secondary Teachers' Increments.
112.
The arrangement whereby incremental credit may in certain circumstances be given to persons entering the vocational teaching service in respect of previous suitable experience arose out of recommendations made under the scheme of conciliation and arbitration. No claim for similar arrangements has been received on behalf of persons entering the secondary teaching service. The arrangements mentioned above do not include incremental credit for non-aided primary teaching service.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say why secondary teachers are not given credit for service in the North of Ireland or in Britain, which is an even more important matter? It is a disgrace to the Department that an experienced teacher coming back to this country gets no credit for such service.
That is a separate question.
I agree, but the oftener it is mentioned here the better.
The Minister said the other day that he was going to do something about that. Am I to understand that the Parliamentary Secretary is saying that regardless of whether it is just that something should be done——
The Deputy is not so to understand the Parliamentary Secretary.
I understand him to say that it is given to vocational teachers. He did not give any reason why it should be confined to them. He just said secondary teachers had not looked for it. He knows about the conciliation and arbitration scheme for secondary teachers and is he saying that until they use that scheme they will not get something to which they are entitled? Is this a form of blackmail?
No, it is not a form of blackmail and the Deputy is going too far in suggesting that. He will appreciate that teachers are represented by teachers' organisations and the Department do not necessarily undertake to make proposals on their behalf. If and when such a proposal is made it will be given consideration.
May I submit that a lot of our troubles are because the Government and the Government agencies do not in their industrial relations adopt the——
The Deputy is making a statement.
No, I am asking a question. They do not adopt the normal process of trying to do the right thing even before they are asked. In this case it is obviously only just that this should be done. As secondary teachers who may not be members of the ASTI are suffering an injustice, will he take action on it?
The Deputy will appreciate that experience prior to going into teaching, related to vocational teaching as it is now called, is quite different and can in many ways be more directly related to the actual subject being taught at that level, than in the secondary school, now so called.
Does the Parliamentary Secretary mean that this experience is confined to cases of vocational subjects?
Not necessarily. It is generally in vocational schools related to experience of a similar type.
A French teacher in a vocational school can get incremental benefit from service in Guinness's but a secondary teacher cannot.