Pay rises for 30,000 teachers to cost €22m

MORE than 30,000 teachers will receive pay increases worth almost €22 million next year, while students and their families suffer another round of cutbacks.

The increases are part of a €250m annual increase to the public sector pay bill arising from salary increments guaranteed under the Croke Park deal between unions and the last government in return for productivity measures.

The increases range from just over €1,000 to €3,615 a year — up to €301 extra a month — for those working full-time. But because most teachers’ increments do not take effect until September, the average cost to taxpayers next year will be about €670 per teacher.

Just over half of teachers will receive increments. The cost for more than 19,500 at primary levels is estimatedat €13.8m, while about €6.4m will be added to the salary costs of almost 11,000 second-level teachers.

Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin said suspending increment payments would affect a higher proportion of lower-paid workers because it takes longer to reach top pay rates within lower grades. But the increments being paid to teachers include increases of €2,500 to €3,615 payable to some of those with 15 to 25 years’ service on basic salaries of €50,000 to €60,000 after the January 2010 public service pay cut.

The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland said that most of those due increments were young teachers in the bottom half of the pay scale, and that more than one third at second level were in temporary or part-time positions.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary Sheila Nunan said primary teachers were delivering over 1m hours of extra work under the Croke Park deal and they expected the Government to honour the commitment to employees.

Teachers’ salaries account for €3.85 billion of Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s €8.4bn non-capital budget this year. The €21.7m cost of increments in 2011 matches this year’s cuts to student grants and a 5% reduction in schools’ funding (both saved €22m), and almost match the €24m saved by withdrawing 1,200 support teachers.

The Croke Park deal has come under sustained scrutiny ahead of next week’s budget, which will impose €2.2bn of cuts on public services, about €300m of it likely to come out of education spending. Families are likely to face increases in school bus charges and third-level fees.