During an impassioned debate about pay at the conference of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI), several speakers spoke about some damning statistics which might be used to undermine their 30 per cent pay claim. One delegate recycled the old line about lies, damned lies and statistics and exhorted delegates to ignore them.
The reality, said another, was that a teacher at the top of his scale would qualify for a mortgage of £87,000, scarcely enough for a shoebox in parts of Dublin.
The statistics, however, tell part of the story about teachers' pay. The stark fact is that Irish teachers are among the best paid in the world. Only Korea, Germany and Switzerland pay a teacher with 15 years' experience more, according to an OECD table of 23 nations published in the ASTI's own convention handbook for delegates.
Secondary teachers in Ireland also enjoy longer holidays and a shorter working day than most of their counterparts. ASTI members are entitled to annual holidays totalling 76 days plus an additional five days "personal leave" at the discretion of the school principal. They work for 22 teaching hours a week.
The school year, at 167 days, is also short by international comparison. It may get shorter as schools close for a number of days to facilitate orals/practicals around next Easter.
At their annual conference recently, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals expressed concern about the erosion of the school year.
Many parents - especially where both partners work long hours - will share these concerns. The short school year means that parents must often take time off work to attend parent/teacher meetings.
ASTI members must also be among the least inspected teachers in the world. This reporter has met many delegates at the ASTI conference who have not been subject to any inspection by the Department of Education since they qualified, in many cases more than 20 years ago. The vast majority of these delegates appeared to be dedicated, conscientious teachers, but there are still few effective means for dealing with the odd bad apple.
The Government's new Whole School Evaluation (WSE) is unlikely to make much difference, at least in the short term. WSE is a very mild form of inspection where the totality of the school performance - rather than the performance of the individual teacher - is assessed.
In fairness, WSE provides a framework for a more comprehensive inspection system in the medium term but it is unlikely to make a significant difference in the short term.
Despite all of this, secondary teachers, on the basis of this week's Irish Times/MRBI poll, continue to enjoy a strong level of public support for their 30 per cent pay claim. Some 46 per cent of those polled backed the ASTI demand, a figure which surprised many in the union.
It is easy to see why teachers enjoy this public support despite the damning statistical evidence over pay. Most Irish people give teachers credit for helping to lay the foundations for economic growth. Most want a teaching corps with good professional morale. Most do not want to "go down the British road" where the professional morale of a great number of teachers has been crushed.
The ASTI demand for 30 per cent, which has been bolstered by the poll, is based on four factors:
Cost of living increases, including concerns about the inflation rate;
Compensation for co-operation with ongoing change in second-level education;
Reward for the contribution which teachers have made to the Irish economy;
Recognition that teachers have fallen behind other comparable graduate professions.
On pay, while it is clear that secondary teachers are well paid by international standards, it is also the case that teachers are not rich people. There are few Mercedes parked outside the ASTI conference centre.
Teachers do appear to have fallen behind other comparable graduate professions. The decline in the number of applicants for the Higher Diploma in Education tells its own story; young graduates see better pickings elsewhere.
The ASTI claims that it has co-operated with change in second-level education also have some merit. Many new exams and new courses have been introduced and the pace of change is quickening. It is also undeniably the case that teachers have made a very significant contribution to the State's economic success.
On the face of it, the ASTI would appear to have a decent case for what is, in reality, a 12 per cent increase; a further 18 per cent is already on offer under the new pay deal but this has been rejected by the ASTI. The other teaching unions are adopting a more polite approach; they have accepted the 18 per cent and are seeking significant increases under the bench-marking or productivity process in the pay deal.
The ASTI has opted for a more direct approach in which it has refused to rule out disruption of next year's exams. It is a risky strategy. Public support could quickly ebb if the exams are hit.
And the public may begin to pose awkward questions. One such question springs to mind: if teachers want the benefits of the private sector, are they willing to accept the downside of work in other graduate professions - including longer hours, less holidays and more accountability?