Vol. 553 No. 2
320 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science the total cost to the taxpayer and his Department of paying the ?34 per hour supervision rate to non-teachers compared to the cost of making the ?1,000 payment pensionable. [13163/02]
As part of the contingency arrangements, which were drawn up by the representative management groups, the Joint Managerial Body – JMB, the Irish Vocational Education Association – IVEA – and the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools – ACS, following detailed discussions with officials of my Department, my Department undertook to resource schools in order that they could employ staff to provide supervision and thereby remain open. Payments amounting to €17.8 million have issued under the plan.
The contingency plan acknowledges that supplementary allocations may need to be made to some schools at a later date if their approved outgoings are greater than the amount of the grant. Accordingly final costs are not yet available.
Agreement has recently been reached with the Teacher's Union of Ireland – TUI – and the Irish National Teachers Organisation – INTO – that the pensionability of the substitution and supervision payment is acceptable in principle subject to compliance with the requirements of the existing superannuation scheme. Discussions will take place between my Department and the trades unions concerned during the summer months in order to resolve the pension issues before the commencement of the next school year.
