THE Government has made a new offer on pay and conditions to 20,000 second level teachers. The offer pushes up the cost of an overall deal for all teachers to more than £70 million.
At talks with teacher union and school management negotiators yesterday, the Government made its first new offer since the last package was rejected in the spring.
The draft offer provides for 100 additional early retirement places a year, improved procedures for teachers applying for early retirement and the conversion of several hundred part time or temporary positions into permanent posts.
A number of stumbling blocks remains, including the Government's original demand for teachers to work an additional 15 hours a year on non teaching activities such as meetings with parents and games. Although this demand is gone, the Government is still seeking some form of quid pro quo.
There is also disagreement between the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) over a new appointments procedure for vocational teachers. The TUI says it will not agree a pay deal which fails to recommend new criteria for appointments and an appeal procedure. However, the IVEA has withdrawn from talks on this.
The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland rejected the Government's original proposal to make merit the main criterion for promoting teachers. Department of Education negotiators have said they are willing to moderate this proposal by retaining seniority as the main criterion for many appointments. However, the management body for second level schools, the Joint Managerial Body, has vetoed such a move.
The latest Government offer to the teachers includes many of the original proposals, such as retirement at 55 after 35 years' service and increases in allowances.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation accepted the original offer, but is likely to seek parallel improvements if new terms are agreed with the two second level unions. Primary teachers seeking early retirement are invited to apply before Wednesday.
