Vol. 526 No. 3
389 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Education and Science his proposals to safeguard the future of the teaching profession and ensure the delivery of a quality education service in the years ahead; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26270/00]
I assume the Deputy is referring to the pay and conditions of service of teachers.
In addition to basic salary, teachers receive annual allowances in respect of certain qualifications. Teachers are also paid a range of additional allowances for additional duties. The majority of our teachers join with honours qualifications and start teaching at a salary of £20,636 rising to £34,821, while a principal of a medium size second level school with honours qualifications would be paid a total of £50,026.
Claims for improvements in the conditions of service of teachers are processed through the conciliation council for teachers. Apart from the increases in salary which have been granted as part of national agreements, significant improvements have been made over the years in the conditions of service of teachers including the provision of additional teaching posts, the extension and improvement of arrangements for the award of incremental credit, new management structure for schools with a significant increase in promotional posts for teachers, increased allowances for posts of responsibility, new career break and job-sharing arrangements and the payment of qualifications allowances for all recognised teachers.
The future of our education system is dependent on there being a well qualified and committed teaching force in our schools. Teachers do very valuable work and should be paid accordingly. In this regard the public service benchmarking body, which has been set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, will shortly commence to undertake a fundamental examination of public service pay and jobs, including the role and pay of teachers, vis-à-vis the private sector. The PPF provides for negotiation on the implementation of the outcomes of this benchmarking process in the context of negotiations on the arrangements which will follow the PPF.
