Thousands of primary school principals and deputy principals are in line for significant pay increases after the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) reached agreement with the Government over the use of a sectoral bargaining fund.
The current public sector pay deal includes a new multi-million euro sectoral bargaining arrangement aimed at dealing with outstanding claims and awards.
The sectoral fund amounts to 1 per cent of basic pay, with a payment date of February 1st, 2022.
Under the new agreement, primary principals and deputies will climb up categories on a scale of allowances which are based on the size of their school.
The revised 14-category allowance scale ranges from €13,011-€41,547 for principals and €6,932-€26,876 for deputy principals. Each step of the scale is typically worth €1,750-€3,200.
Under the agreement announced on Thursday, principals and deputy principals in schools with one to five authorised posts will move up two categories on the scale of allowances.
Principals and deputy principals in schools with between six and 35 authorised teaching posts to move up one category on the scale of allowances.
In larger primary schools, the allowance scale is being extended to reflect the additional workload.
It has been capped at schools with 36 or more authorised posts. It will be expanded to include new categories of authorised posts of 36-40, 41-50, 51-60 and 61-plus posts.
In addition, there will be an allowance for a second teacher in two-teacher schools equivalent to that of a deputy principal.
The INTO has also opted to use the fund to increase part-time and hourly /daily rates.
The increase to the part-time hourly rates will be payable to new entrants to teaching and will bring them into line with rates for other teachers
In addition, there will be a payment of a secure unit allowance which will be paid in respect of teachers who work in certain secure units and care settings
Minister for Education Norma Foley said she welcomed the INTO's decision to use the sectoral bargaining fund to settle outstanding priority claims.
“This was the intention behind the concept of sectoral bargaining agreed in the national pay talks which allows for unions to decide on how best to use the fund in terms of their member’s priorities,” she said.
INTO president Joe McKeown said the agreement finally reflected a benchmarking award made in 2007.
“The payment of this award, which has been overdue for nearly 15 years, addresses another long-standing equality issue and closes a shameful chapter in Irish education, when the word of Government regarding an independent adjudication could not be counted on,” he said.
“Through a decade of austerity, this union never gave up our right to this claim and I want to thank the negotiation team who refused to back down or accept a watered-down offer from government. I also want to thank the many INTO activists who kept the faith and supported the work of the union to keep this claim up front over the last decade.”
Second level teachers’ unions have yet to reach agreement on how to use their sectoral bargaining fund.
It is understood that the Teachers’ Union of Ireland is keen to use the fund to close the new entrant pay gap.
