I recently received a ballot paper from the ASTI, seeking my endorsement for strike action in response to the recently imposed pension levy.

There is much that is wrong with the levy and the inequitable manner in which it will be imposed. But there is a wider issue.

Ordinary teachers will not accept the sacrifices that are required to close a gap of €20 billion in the public finances, unless they see that those at the very top of the pay scales accept dramatic cuts in take home pay.

Ireland needs a radical restructuring of its pay costs and taxation system to enable it to restore its international reputation and competitiveness, if it is to create jobs for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed, and the young people in our schools and colleges.

Public assent to such painful changes will not be given and maintained, over many very difficult years ahead, unless the well-heeled within the public service, and the banks whose actions brought about this crisis, accept a major reduction in their take-home pay and living standards.

Only when the pain is seen to be shared equally will we accept the enormous sacrifices facing us.

Having considered the matter fully, I decided to vote no to the ASTI proposal for strike action, because I do not believe that closing schools for a day will help resolve the current turmoil.

* Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin and a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors