The Government should take immediate action to allow teachers to transfer their pension entitlements across the Border, Fine Gael has claimed.
According to Mr Jim O'Keeffe TD, teachers on both sides of the Border are losing out financially because they are currently unable to do this.
"It's ridiculous that anyone who spends time teaching in Northern Ireland, or in other forms of public service, cannot combine this with service in the Republic for pension purposes, and vice versa," said Mr O'Keeffe. "There is effectively a Border barrier preventing pensions entitlements from being transferred."
Although the North-South Ministerial Council had set up a working group on teachers' superannuation, Mr O'Keeffe said he believed it had either "not been working very hard" or that its findings had not been supported politically. "It's time for the Government to commit itself publicly to implementing this very practical aspect of cross-border co-operation."
Responding to Mr O'Keeffe's comments, Mr John Carr, of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, said the question of transferability of teachers' pensions had been an issue of concern to his organisation for a number of years.
He said the INTO had raised the issue on several occasions with departments of education North and South.
However, while the North-South Ministerial Council had indicated there was potential for agreement, little seemed to have happened in the interim.
A Department of Education spokeswoman said the joint working group had identified many issues to be looked at, and was drawing up a paper to be presented to the council. However she was unable to say when this might be.