Moves besides permanent contracts essential to addressing staff shortages, TUI delegates told
The move by Government to cut the amount of time new teachers must work before securing permanent contracts is welcome, but other measures are required to address the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in secondary education, delegates at the
Teachers Union of Ireland
conference in Wexford were told on Tuesday.
General secretary Michael Gillespie said widespread staff shortages were being fuelled by the difficulties being experienced attracting young teachers in the face of competition from overseas but also by resignations and early retirements, many of which, he said, are being prompted by the stress of the work.
'This is a crisis of the Government's own making,' Mr Gillespie told delegates. 'It is the inevitable result of repeated decisions to force the education system to do more with fewer resources.'
He said schools need to be better resourced in order to attract new teachers and offer them clear career pathways, while specific measures are required, he said, to appeal to the large numbers of young teachers working in places such as Dubai and Australia, 'starting with recognition of teaching service overseas'.
READ MORE
'We welcome the recent decision to allow teachers to gain permanent contracts one year earlier,' he said, describing it as 'a positive move'. However, he added, 'it is not enough'.
The move on permanent contracts was something the union had been pushing for, although it wants permanent jobs offered from day one, he added.
The Government now needs to act on other suggestions, including a reduction in the Professional Master of Education course from two years to one, and the restoration of abolished allowances for teachers working in special education, through Irish or on the islands, Mr Gillespie said.
While recruitment needs to be a greater priority, he insisted, there is also a growing problem with retention, as a growing number of teachers resign or take early retirement due to the growing levels of work-related stress.
Excessive workload and work intensification are 'breaking' the teaching profession, he said.
[
Teachers to consider industrial action over proposed Leaving Cert reforms
Opens in new window
]
'Across every sector of education, our members repeatedly raise the alarm: there is an ever-increasing workload and never enough time,' he said. The 'spiral is unsustainable. It is becoming a serious health and wellbeing crisis. Burnout is real and impacting our profession.'
Research carried out by DCU found 85 per cent of teachers experienced high levels of work-related burnout, while half that many, 42 per cent, said they are likely to leave the profession early because of the issue.
He said teachers were struggling with the same wider social issues as those working in every other sector of the economy, but were also having to cope with 'change overload' caused by emerging technologies, curriculum overload and endless new initiatives. 'And we are doing all this with the largest class sizes in Europe.'
Addressing the conference later on Tuesday, Minister for Further and Higher Education
James Lawless
said
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT)
and the
Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)
had not been forgotten about by Government despite the two institutes not yet becoming part of a larger third-level establishment.
The Department of Further and Higher Education, he said, 'will continue to support the provision of significant financial and expert guidance to DkIT and IADT as they pursue their strategic plans in the coming years.
'However, it is not the role of any Minister to direct an institution to follow a particular path.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Govt ministers could owe State thousands of euro after ‘absolutely unacceptable' pensions pay gaffes leads to 13k audits
GOVERNMENT ministers are among thousands of civil servants who have been accidentally overpaid or underpaid in their pensions in an embarrassing series of gaffes. Three separate mess ups at the National Shared Services Office has resulted in thousands of civil servants being either One of these mistakes relates to Due to an administration error, a number of current and former Other Ministers and senior civil servants will have to repay the State amounts ranging between the low hundreds up to €30,000. The NSSO began the process of contacting Ministers and former Ministers today to inform them about the mistake. READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS Another gaffe relates to the administration of Chargeable Excess Tax and Witholding There are 30 of these cases that need to be corrected with one person mistakenly overpaid up to €280,000. A third mess up by the NSSO relates to the miscalculation and under payment of pensions for some civil servants who were work sharing in their careers and spans back 20 years. Some 13,000 civil servants are having their cases audited to find out how much they need to be paid or owe the State over the mishap. Most read in Irish News Public Expenditure Minister The FURIOUS AT MISTAKES The mistakes were not the fault of any of the individuals impacted and are instead completely on the NSSO. The Minister is furious at the mistakes and has ordered the CEO of the NSSO to correct the matter immediately while also ordering a full external audit of the State pension body. He said: 'The issues that have been brought to my attention by the NSSO are completely unacceptable. 'The NSSO has responsibility for the essential function of the provision of pay and pensions to public and civil servants and it has failed in this fundamental duty. 'I have instructed the CEO of the NSSO that the multiple errors must be corrected by the NSSO as a matter of urgency, particularly regarding the treatment of retirees who had been on a work-sharing pattern in the civil service. 'I am committed to fully and comprehensively addressing this matter.' 1 Some Ministers are owed refunds of up to €20,000 Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on rental reform: the perilous task of fixing a broken market
Reform of the rent pressure zone rules was always going to be one of the trickiest issues facing the Cabinet. It is difficult to get the balance right between protecting tenants and encouraging development. And the topic is politically toxic, allowing the Opposition to make charges of incompetence and favouring international capital over hard-pressed renters. The backdrop is clear, even if the solutions are not. There is a supply crisis in the rental market. Doing nothing is not an option. The shortfall cannot be dealt with through State investment alone – private capital is also needed. Yet just scrapping rent pressure zones and allowing market rents across the board is not an option, as this would place an unacceptable burden on many renters. The Government has tried to square this circle by allowing market rents to apply for new developments – and to increase with inflation – while leaving current rental price protections for existing renters. Built around this are some new protections for tenants, including the extension of rent pressure zones to the entire State. Not surprisingly, the reaction is mixed, with warnings of new pressure on some renters and investors warning that the changes are not enough. The Government, too, knows pain lies ahead . Average rents are likely to increase, at least in the short term, and new supply will be unaffordable to many. Fixing a broken market is not easy. READ MORE The hope is that an increased level of development and new supply will eventually lead to more properties and falling rental costs. But in the short term a key question for investors will be whether there are enough people able to pay rents which are sufficiently high to give them the return they are looking for. The extent to which the loosening of the rules will bring forward new investment thus remains to be seen. In this mix, a significant issue is that current renters will remain in a better position than future ones, unless in time higher supply brings down new rental costs. To have enough properties affordable for lower and middle earners, this means that the Government needs to increase the supply of cost rental properties – as well as social and affordable housing – to provide options for those who cannot pay market rents. If the plan is to to lead to any kind of sustainable rental market, this type of State-led investment is essential. And other reforms are also needed to speed both private and public development. Here we are in familiar territory. The chronic shortages of infrastructure must be tackled. The planning system needs to operate much more efficiently. And further efforts are needed to bring down the costs of development. These fundamental factors are much more important than considering yet more financial incentives for developers. If the Government is to move the dial, a relentless push is needed.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Pensions of 13,000 ex-civil servants being checked for errors, with one potentially owing €280,000
A pool of 13,000 retired civil servants, as well as current and former Government ministers, are to have their pension deductions checked after 'serious and systemic operational issues' were identified at the State office that handles pension payments. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers revealed errors at the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) on Tuesday, insisting the State will recoup any money owed. One former senior civil servant could owe as much as €280,000 as a result of the errors. The cohort of 13,000 former civil servants were all in work-share arrangements. Not all are necessarily affected. READ MORE It is believed most current Government ministers will owe money to the State due to errors in their pension deductions, although some may be due some money back. Others are unaffected. Expected sums owed by current ministers range from hundreds of euro to just above €30,000. Other ministers may be owed hundreds or up to about €20,000. The issue also affects pension deductions for ministers in previous Governments. There is a third group of 30 former senior civil servants who are affected and, while some will owe as little as a few hundred euro, one individual is believed to owe €280,000 as a result of the NSSO error. Mr Chambers said the NSSO has not yet been able to establish the full scale of the issues or the number of people affected. His department is in 'ongoing engagement' with the office that provides payroll and pensions services to public bodies and Government departments. Mr Chambers, who updated the Cabinet on the situation on Tuesday, said the errors 'span different time periods and have been detected in different ways'. They have arisen from 'administrative errors' in the NSSO and were 'not the fault of any of the individuals impacted', he said. One issue, going back 20 years, relates to the 'miscalculation and underpayment' of pensions for some work-sharing civil service retirees who were in receipt of allowances. The NSSO is seeking to establish the scale of the problem. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mr Chambers could not offer an estimate for how much the State owes or is due. An external audit will focus on validating all aspects of the issues identified and to identify any further issues, he said. Mr Chambers said a pool of 13,000 retired civil servants will have their pensions checked, 'although the number affected is likely to be smaller than this' as not all will have anomalies. He said anyone with queries about work-sharing pensions can contact the NSSO's customer contact centre. Mr Chambers said the issue affecting current and former ministers relates to 'superannuation deductions and additional superannuation contributions with respect to salaries, allowances or gifted income'. It is understood part of the issue arises from the treatment of part of ministers' income returned to the state in recent years and how their pension deductions were calculated as a result. Mr Chambers said the NSSO is contacting affected people and will 'outline the issue as it relates to them and make arrangements for the recoupment of any monies owed or to issue refunds as appropriate'. 'As these are personal matters relating to individuals' pay, I'm not in a position to disclose the individual amounts,' he said. Mr Chambers said the third issue, affecting 30 identified cases, concerns the administration of chargeable excess tax and withholding tax for senior grade civil service pensions. Mr Chambers said the issues at the NSSO are 'completely unacceptable' and must be corrected 'as a matter of urgency'. The Minister has appointed Derek Moran, former Department of Finance secretary general, as the new chair of the NSSO's advisory board. He has asked Mr Moran to 'immediately' commission an external forensic audit of the NSSO systems and processes. Mr Chambers has separately requested 'a broad external review of the NSSO's capacity and structures' to ensure it is equipped to fulfil its responsibilities for the future. Mr Chambers said the legislation underpinning the NSSO and its governance will need to be amended to ensure greater accountability and legislation is 'being drafted'. He said the NSSO has advised him it is not aware of any further issues at this time.
