Some primary teachers left without wages since August

Some first-time primary teachers have complained they have not been paid since the start of the academic year in August.

The teachers said a number of them had been told it would be November at the earliest before their details were incorporated in the Department of Education payroll – leaving them to seek a loan from their schools, banks or credit unions.

One teacher from Co Waterford, Pat Mulhern, told The Irish Times about 15 newly qualified teachers that he knew had not been paid despite having "to feed and clothe themselves, put petrol in the car and pay rent".

Mr Mulhern said he had written to the Minister for Education Richard Bruton and media outlets “to highlight this issue and the disregard newly qualified teachers are being shown”.

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A department spokeswoman said any teacher who sent their details to the department on or before September 1st “should now be receiving their pay”.

The department said it had noted an increased amount of teachers moving to different schools this year, and this had resulted in a delay in some teachers receiving their pay. However, the department said it had received no complaints.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation assistant general secretary Peter Mullan called on the department to allocate more staff to the payroll section to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

He said the department had flagged the potential for delays earlier this year when they put a notice on job application forms saying that teachers’ full details should be supplied by July 14th, for the coming year.

However, Mr Mullan said not all teachers jobs were offered, due to uncertainty about retirements and vacancies, by July 14th placing the schools in a position where they could not meet the deadline.

He said he was aware of “pressure in the payroll department” but added that it was “not fair that teachers would be forced to go into debt through no fault of their own”.

“The department should allocate extra staff to sort this out as soon as possible,” he said.