An extra payment of up to €5,000 per annum should be paid to teachers who work in disadvantaged areas, according to a report from a Government committee.
The new allowance is recommended by the Committee on Educational Disadvantage. It says it is needed to help schools in poorer areas recruit and retain staff at primary and second-level.
In a report sent to the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, the committee says a new "education priority" allowance should be paid, modelled on existing allowances paid to teachers working in the Gaeltacht and on the islands.
Last week, teachers at the INTO congress demanded the special allowance for working in disadvantaged areas because of the physical danger inherent in their jobs. The conference was told that in one school 19 teachers, more than half the total, left their jobs in a single year because they could not cope with the feeling of constant threat.
It was also told that teachers in disadvantaged areas rarely stay more than four years in one school. As a result, the schools are forced to recruit "unqualified teachers", which deepens the reality of disadvantage.
Teachers in Gaeltacht areas receive an additional €2,285 per annum while those working on the islands are paid an extra €1,374. One senior education source said: "Realistically we are talking about an allowance of about €5,000 if we are serious about tackling this problem."
The INTO conference was told how one teacher working in a disadvantaged area found faeces in her desk, vandals knocked down a school wall with a JCB and teachers had to carry walkie-talkies in the playground because they are on constant watch for intruders. Inside the school in question, a resource teacher was mugged at needle-point.
The education disadvantage committee is chaired by Ms Aine Hyland, a professor of education and a vice-president at UCC. It was established by the former education minister, Dr Michael Woods.
The committee proposes a series of other incentives designed to help teachers in disadvantaged schools. These include:
An extra pension allowance for teachers who have spent most of their working lives in disadvantaged areas.
A special sabbatical year for teachers serving in severely disadvantaged areas to help "avoid burn-out".
Involvement in post-graduate and special career development opportunities with a focus on positive intervention in educational disadvantage.
The teaching unions are likely to respond positively to the proposal for a special allowance for teachers in disadvantaged areas.
In recent years , there has been much discussion about the payment of other special allowances to teachers. Dublin INTO members have been seeking a special London-style "weighting allowance" to compensate teachers for the high cost of living in Dublin.