There was a significant step forward in the teachers' dispute last night when the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, agreed to refund the pay docked from teachers at Christmas without any preconditions.
In a letter to the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, Mr Ahern said the money would be refunded "without prejudice" to either side. The money was docked after the ASTI took part in work-to-rule action.
Mr Ahern states in his letter: "All that is required is that the ASTI engage in the talks process to which it has already agreed."
The last Government proposal to the ASTI to refund the three days of docked pay had six conditions attached. Critically, the Government reserved the right to make similar deductions in the future. This and other conditions are not included in Mr Ahern's letter this time.
This concession could lead to a suspension of the dispute, although the ASTI's standing committee will have the final say when it meets today or tomorrow. Last night, ASTI sources were cautiously optimistic the Government proposal could break the logjam.
Government sources said last night they hoped the offer could be "successfully" placed before the standing committee.
The Government-appointed mediator, Mr Tom Pomphrett, said Mr Ahern's letter was significant and if accepted by the standing committee he could begin talks with Government and the union next week. The letter confirmed an earlier such offer from the Minister for Education, Dr Woods.
In his letter to the ASTI president, Mr Don McCluskey, the Taoiseach states: "I confirm that the remaining payments in question will be refunded without prejudice to the position of either side".
The concession came about after Mr Ahern wrote in The Irish Times on Tuesday that the docked money was on offer "without prejudice".
After reading the article, the ASTI decided to ask Mr Ahern to repeat this in a letter.
The concession is understood to have a good chance of meeting the requirements of the ASTI motion on the docked pay issue. It called for a refund without preconditions.
The Government's move will be seen as a significant victory for ASTI, which has campaigned hard on the deductions issue. However, even if that is resolved in the next few days, further problems lie ahead.
The union remains implacably opposed to the Government's benchmarking pay review body.
The biggest obstacle facing the new initiative is the faction on the ASTI standing committee which voted down the last proposal submitted by Mr Pomphrett.
Some of this group who spoke to The Irish Times last night were cautious about calling the proposal a breakthrough. Several said the contents of Mr Ahern's letter needed to be clarified.
"We have to be sure this is not just a fudge to get us into talks," one of them said.
Another standing committee member said the union wanted to know for sure the money would be refunded "permanently" and would not be clawed back later by the Government.
They all said that if these points could be dealt with, the proposal might be accepted. The last proposal was defeated by 12 votes to 10. This close result is likely to be repeated this time.
Many teachers were infuriated by the decision to dock the money three days before Christmas. It caused more upset among rank and file members of the union than any other measure taken by the Government during the three-month dispute.
The ASTI is still pursuing a legal action over the issue and this is due for hearing soon. Teachers were docked for refusing to take part in supervision duties which resulted in schools having to cancel classes.
Teachers were present in classrooms during these days but school managers said that without supervision it was not safe for pupils to attend. The teachers have claimed that supervision is voluntary.