Teacher pay cuts ‘wipe outbenchmarking benefits’

THE latest public service pay cuts taking effect this week will see the benefits of benchmarking for teachers having been wiped out over the past year.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) incoming general secretary Sheila Nunan said the 17% drop in average take-home pay for its 35,000 members in the last year was far higher than cuts for private sector workers.

The cuts announced in last month’s budget range from 5% upwards across the public service, bringing the cumulative effect for a principal teacher at the top of the salary scale to a 19% drop.