Quinn warns teachers’ union against rejecting deal

Almost 16,000 secondary teachers will no longer be paid for supervision and substitution work if their union again rejects the Haddington Road Agreement, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has warned.

His declaration came as Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) members prepare to vote again on the deal which has been accepted by all other public service unions. But although officials have secured additional commitments from Mr Quinn’s department to examine concerns over junior cycle reform and teacher employment, the union’s central executive council is recommending another ‘no’ vote.

The minister repeated to the Dáil what he and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin had previously said, that it was unsustainable for ASTI members to keep getting paid for supervision and substitution (S&S) work that other teacher union members — including Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) colleagues at 40 dual-union schools — now have to do on an unpaid basis.