IPPN

ONE thousand part-time teachers who were underpaid for seven years will be refunded by November, the Department of Education has confirmed.

While the final cost of paying out seven years of arrears is unknown, the Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe has previously estimated that the bill could be as high as €45m.

It is thought that the Government must find cutbacks in other areas, or await the November budget to obtain the money to repay all 1,000 teachers.

Last night, a spokesman for the Department of Education confirmed that about 1,000 part-time schoolteachers had applied for refunds since the Irish Independent revealed last summer the massive bill facing the Government and taxpayers.

Already, two teachers have obtained €35,000 and €55,000 in arrears after taking their case to the Rights Commissioner, which found the Department of Education had been in breach of laws which protect part-time workers.

The Department of Education also confirmed that a new payroll will be introduced in September to pay part-time teachers and ensure that the errors of the past seven years are not repeated.

Arrears

As the arrears payments will be made through the new payroll, all statutory deductions such as tax and PRSI will be made, according to the department spokesman.

"The details necessary to place the teachers on the payroll system have been received from approximately 1,000 teachers," he said.

Under the 2001 law, part-time teachers are entitled to be paid the same as their full-time colleagues to reflect their qualifications and experience.

But the department has been paying them as if they were newly graduated teachers who have qualified with a pass degree, as opposed to the honours degree the majority of teachers obtain.

To date, the department has been unable to quantify the extent of the bill it will have to pay because it never kept a payroll record for temporary teachers.

Last year, the Irish Independent published details of a briefing document prepared for Mr O'Keeffe, which stated: "many of the teachers are likely to be entitled to be on a higher rate of pay than is currently paid to them and are due arrears of salary. . .

"By not paying the appropriate rate of salary to the teachers concerned, the department could be found to be acting unlawfully."

- ine Kerr Political Correspondent