Irish teachers best paid but work longer hours in bigger classes

Irish teachers are among the best paid but work longer hours and with some of the biggest classes in the developed world in return.

The findings from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are based on the salaries of teachers with various levels of service, and do not include qualifications allowances paid to those who began teaching up to 2011. While an Irish teacher at primary or second-level earned €42,500 after 15 years’ service in 2012, the average among second-level teachers across 21 EU countries in the OECD (EU21) was €33,635, and for 34 OECD countries it was just under €33,092.

The comparable averages for primary teachers in EU21 and OECD countries were just over €30,000.