INTO says pay cuts are not on the agenda [INTO]
- Published: 19 January 2009
Source: INTO
By: John Carr
The INTO said today that pay cuts for primary teachers were not on the union agenda in forthcoming social partnership talks with government.
John Carr, General Secretary of the INTO, said the union was not prepared to discuss pay cuts and would strongly resist any attempt to target teachers for pay cuts.
"Primary teachers didn't cause the national reversal of fortunes," said Carr. "Contrary to what some commentators would have people believe, there is no bloated public service when it comes to teaching."
He said the opposite was true and that Irish primary teachers are among the most productive in the world teaching more children for longer than in most other countries. "Ireland's literacy rates are among the highest in the world," said Carr.
"The fact that eighty percent of education spending goes on salaries reflects low education spending not high salaries," said Carr. "Teachers here may well earn more than teachers in other countries but not when the cost of living is factored into the equation."
He said attacking the pay and pensions of teachers was not an option that the union would even consider. "Increases granted to primary teachers in recent years have been hard won through increased productivity and nothing on the scale of the self-awarded increases taken by the elite in this country," said Carr.
