Teachers pushing for resolution of pay talks

Teacher unions are pushing for the urgent conclusion of talks with two government departments over restoring qualifications allowances for younger members as they prepare to return to classrooms.

The Department of Education said last night that the aim is to conclude by early next month the talks it has been engaged in with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).

Its statement followed TUI president Joanne Irwin’s warning that the union’s second-level members might be forced to activate a mandate for industrial action in the absence of resolution on the key issue of pay of recent entrants to the profession.