The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) today began its annual congress in Salthill, Galway.
Among the issues that will be discussed at the conference are the proposed deal on public service pay and reform, taxation, industrial action, the embargo on public service promotion, school buildings and class sizes.
The annual congress was addressed today by the INTO president, Máire Ní Chuinneagáin, and Ictu general secretary David Begg. New Minister for Education Mary Coughlan will give a speech tomorrow.
Since a proposed public service pay and reform deal was agreed with the Government last week, the executives of the INTO and the Public Service Executive Union have backed the agreement, while the Teachers' Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (Asti) have opposed it.
The executive of the INTO voted to recommend acceptance of the deal in a ballot of its 30,000 members after Easter. It said the executive would engage widely with members through INTO structures, including information meetings, in advance of the ballot. The agreement will also be discussed at the annual congress.
Asti is likely to ballot its 18,000 members on the deal, according to general secretary John White.
While the new public service deal holds out the possibility of reversing pay cuts, it has also raised concerns among rank-and-file teachers. Under its terms, teachers will have to work an additional hour per week. The new deal also commits the unions to a review of teaching contracts – to be finalised before September.