Government: Teachers must be willing to sign deal

The Government will only talk to the union of 16,000 teachers disrupting 500 second-level schools if they are willing to sign up to the Haddington Road deal, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s top civil servant said yesterday.

Pressure is growing on Mr Quinn and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) to resolve the dispute which began on Oct 2. The organisation said both sides must focus on the plight of students, whose studies will suffer a detrimental effect.

Asti has said the main purpose of its industrial action, having rejected the Haddington Road public service agreement, is members’ opposition to education cutbacks.