Teachers, gardaí to co-operate with reforms to end two-tier pay

Recently recruited teachers will receive a pay boost of €2,000 over the next year or so while rent allowance to the value of €4,000 will be restored for gardaí on a phased basis, under new deals aimed at eliminating the controversial two-tier pay structure.

The deals, reached between the Department of Education and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) and Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) unions, and between the Department of Justice and the Garda Representative Association (GRA), will cost close to €25 million.

In return, unions and representative bodies will have to sign up to the Lansdowne Road accord and agree to co-operate with a number of additional reform measures.

Victim support offices

For gardaí, these include co-operation with victim support offices in each Garda division; introduction of a Garda armed response unit in Dublin; introduction of the restructured training programme for new entrants; consultation on the programme of district amalgamation and rationalisation of Garda stations 2012-13; realignment of national support services, and a review of the Garda employee assistance service including co-operation with the introduction of a 24-hour counselling service.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald told the Dáil earlier this year the cost of restoring rent allowance for recently recruited gardaí and existing student gardaí upon attestation would €3.2 million.

“Obviously, that cost would increase by €4,600 for every garda recruited into the future,” she said.

Shared responsibilities

For primary school teachers and TUI members (the ASTI union has rejected the Lansdowne Road accord), the reforms put forward under the Department of Education deal include establishment of leadership teams in schools with appropriately defined and shared responsibilities for areas such as curriculum and learning, student support and wellbeing, school improvement and leadership and development of staff teams.

They will also see the progressive introduction of open recruitment to the position of deputy principal at primary level, initially in larger schools, and the phasing out of seniority/length of service as a standalone criterion for selection for posts of responsibility.

Minister for Education Richard Bruton has said the deal with the INTO and TUI will cost about €20 million.

The Department of Education told The Irish Times the deal did not deliver cost savings but rather the focus was on “operational and quality improvement benefits for schools”.