The ASTI has said today the Government's indication that it will not contest teachers' pay demands, providing they make concessions which could lead to a longer school year, does not apply to them.
Ms Gemma Tuffy, spokeswoman for the union told ireland.comthat because the ASTI are not in the benchmarking process, the Government's submission to the benchmarking review body "does not apply".
The Government has said it will not dispute the recent finding from the Labour Court, that the ASTI have a "sustainable case" for a pay increase at the benchmarking body.
According to a report in today's Irish Times, some of the concessions the Government are looking for include the introduction of a revised Junior Cert with much greater use of continuous assessment from teachers and pupils, and co-operation by teachers with the new inspection system known as Whole School Evaluation (WSE).
The WSE focuses on the overall performance of the school and not on the performance of the individual teacher.
The Department declined to comment further on the proposals but to say that they were merely "challenges facing the education system in the coming years".
ASTI are currently preparing to ballot on the Labour Court's most recent recommendations. Most of the Union's 56 branches are expected to vote during the last week in April and a result is expected by May 4th.