Minister for Education Norma Foley has defended starting salaries for teachers in Dublin amid calls for a special allowance to help keep members of the profession in the capital.
Teachers’ unions have said that soaring rents, rising house prices and a cost-of-living crisis mean that schools are finding it harder to retain key staff in Dublin. One secondary school in the Stillorgan area is reported to have announced that six teachers have left and are relocating to Kerry, Limerick, Galway, Louth, Monaghan and Waterford.
While some Opposition politicians have called for a Dublin allowance to help keep teachers in the capital, Ms Foley played down the need for such a measure.
“In terms of the younger teachers starting out, I’m very cognisant of the discussions that are being held at the minute. Our younger teachers start out on a salary in or around €38,000, which is on a par with London,” she said. “I know reference has been made to a London allowance, but that includes the London allowance, and is comparable with Northern Ireland, where teachers are on €28,000.”
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Ms Foley said cost-of-living concerns were not confined to the Dublin area and that about €2.4 billion of resources had been provided to ease these pressures, while a further €4 billion annually is being invested in boosting access to affordable housing over the next five years. She said further measures would be announced in September’s budget to help address the impact of inflation.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) warned this week that teacher supply in the capital is being made worse by the cost of living in the city. It said schools are finding it difficult to recruit teachers in Irish, maths and science subjects, in particular, with some considering dropping optional subjects.
While starting salaries are in the region of €38,000, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland said that, after tax, younger teachers are taking home a little more than €2,000 a month. This meant many faced a real struggle given that average rents for new tenancies in Dublin are €1,972, it said.
Ms Foley was speaking at an event on Tuesday to highlight the summer programme, which is available in schools during July and August for thousands of children with additional needs, as well as students in more deprived areas. Parents’ groups, however, have criticised the fact that many special schools are not running summer programmes and that access to the initiative is limited in some parts of the country.
When asked if she would consider making it mandatory for special schools to offer the summer programme, Ms Foley said it was her “absolute ambition” that a “maximum number” of schools would do so in future. She said supports had been put in place this year so the burden of running the programmes does not fall on school management.
On the issue of controversial proposals for “special education centres” for children without school places in September, Ms Foley said her “absolute determination” was to instead provide extra places through special classes in mainstream schools.
When asked if they had been ruled out, she said: “I can’t be any clearer than saying that my absolute focus is on the provision of special classes for students who might require them.”
