Teachers dispute - School crisis must reach end of terms

Whether or not Minister for Education Noel Dempsey had issued a warning to teachers on the question of supervision and substitution, which the ASTI will again ballot on next month, is completely irrelevant.

While it would normally be unacceptable for a minister to intervene with a view to influencing a forthcoming internal vote among any union’s members, in this case more than teachers are implicated in whatever decision is reached.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation have already accepted the same deal on supervision and substitution which is worth 38 an hour, or 1,400 a year.