Holly Cairns
Ceist:539. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education the status of pay equalisation for all teachers and all teaching support staff. [52802/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 2 November 2021
Ceisteanna (539)
Freagraí scríofa
Public Service Pay is dealt with through centralised engagement and collective bargaining between Government and the public service unions. The recent public service agreements allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to commence which has led to many improvements since the measures implemented following the financial crisis. For example, the starting salary for a new entrant teacher in 2012 was €30,702 but as a result of the programmes of pay restoration, it is now €38,192.
The matter of new entrant pay is a cross sectoral issue, not just an issue for the education sector alone. The Government has supported the gradual, negotiated repeal of the FEMPI legislation, having due regard to the priority to improve public services and in recognition of the essential role played by public servants. However, the Government must also bear in mind the costs of such measures in the context of overall expenditure. The total year one cost of equalising the pay of new entrant teachers to the pre-2011 arrangements is estimated to be in the region of €59 million per annum in year one (€45 million for full resolution of pay scales and €14 million for re-instatement of the H.Dip allowance) and these costs would rise in subsequent years as more new entrants join the system.
However, measures have been put in place in relation to new entrant pay. In September 2018, an agreement, which provided for a series of incremental jumps for new entrants, was reached between the Government and the public services committee of ICTU which benefitted 18,000 teachers and nearly 5,000 SNAs within the education sector. The current national agreement, Building Momentum, which provides for two general round increases in basic salary and in allowances to be implemented in October 2021 and October 2022 for all public servants also contains a specific provision in relation to new entrant teacher pay which allows for the skipping of Point 12 of the pay scale which is a further improvement in pay for new entrant teachers. This measure will resolve in full the remaining salary scale issues pertaining to new entrant teachers. The agreement also includes a provision for a sectoral bargaining fund to be used by unions to resolve outstanding priority claims or to provide for a further 1% general pay increase and this process is underway at present.
These measures show the benefits that continued engagement and collective bargaining between the Government and the public service unions can bring.