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Important Notice Regarding Supplementary & Main Panel Rights
Important notice for fixed-term/substitute/part-time teachers with regard
to Supplementary Panel Rights & Main Panel Rights.
The INTO is in discussions with the DES with regard to devising a simplified
system for identifying fixed-term/substitute/part-time teachers for
placement on the re-deployment panels.
In this regard it is imperative that teachers, who consider that they may be
eligible for panel rights, should retain their end of year pay slip.
Date: Tuesday,
3 January 12
INTO Campaign Videos
The INTO has produced a series of
videos for the Give Kids Their Chance
campaign against education cuts.
Campaign Postcards
The INTO has prepared postcards for use by parents at
school level about the threats to education spending. The postcards are
pre-addressed on the back to TDs in Leinster House. Members are requested to
ask parents in their local schools to fill in the postcard and return it to
their local TD(s).
Parents should be provided with the name/s of their
locals TD(s).
If your school has not already received postcards
or you need additional copies they are available from Head Office by
contacting Erin or Emily at 01 8047700 or email
info@into.ie.
Date: Wednesday, 23 November 11
Budget Threat to Cut Teacher Numbers
Monday, 7 November 2011
Press release, Sheila Nunan, General Secretary, INTO, on budget
threat to cut teacher numbers.
Schools shocked by rumours of budget cuts.
The INTO described pre-budget rumours of thousands of job
losses in schools as shocking. The general secretary of the primary
teachers’ union Sheila Nunan said schools up and down the country would be
stunned by the scale of the proposed cutbacks.
She was commenting on media coverage that the government
is planning to cut up to two thousand teaching jobs in schools in next
month’s budget.
Ms Nunan said this year schools were struggling with the
effects of last year’s budget which cut hundreds of teaching jobs from
primary schools. “News that further cuts on this scale are planned will
shock teachers. Many will question how they will cope if cuts like this are
imposed by government.”
The INTO pointed out that Irish class sizes in primary
schools are already the second highest in the EU. “There is simply no room
to pack three, four or even five pupils into already over-crowded
classrooms,” said Ms Nunan.
Ms Nunan said teachers had signalled support for the
government’s literacy and numeracy plan but pointed out that cuts of this
scale would seriously undermine the plan. “Small classes are necessary when
children are young to ensure that children get the basics,” said Ms Nunan.
Ireland’s classes in primary schools are already twenty
percent higher than the EU average with 24 pupils per class compared to 20
in other countries. There is widespread agreement among education
researchers that younger children do not do as well in over-crowded classes.
“When class numbers are reasonable modern teaching methods are possible,”
said Ms Nunan. “If we want to improve education outcomes for children the
last thing that should be done is increase class sizes.”
She described talk of increasing class size in primary
schools as “foisting austerity on the young. “Most children in primary
school this year were not even born when the seeds of economic mismanagement
were sown,” she said. “They should not be expected to pay the price of
keeping banks on life support machines.”
A decade ago government promised to reduce class sizes
for the under nines to less than twenty in line with international best
practice. This year, the education department’s own figures show that only
15 percent of primary pupils are in classes of less than twenty pupils.
ENDS
Give Kids Their Chance Campaign
Dear
Colleagues,
The coming weeks will be important for primary education.
The coming budget could contain serious and significant spending cuts that
will impact directly on your classroom and your school. We believe that we
must all do all we can to safeguard primary education at this crucial time.
The INTO is organising a campaign to
protect expenditure on primary education to the greatest extent possible. We
ask you to do your utmost to support this campaign –
Give Kids their Chance.
This website contains key information that may be of use
to you in playing your part in this campaign. The key task is to make sure
that everyone in your school community is aware of potential cutbacks, the
impact these will have and is encouraged to stand up against these cutbacks.
This site will be updated weekly. We ask you to check
back in regularly, keep yourself informed and ensure that everyone in the
school community is updated.
Other documentation and resources, including postcards
for local representatives, are currently being prepared by INTO and will
issue to schools shortly.
Yours sincerely,
Sheila Nunan Noreen Flynn
General Secretary President
Date: Wednesday, 19 October 11
Pension Shock: More About Public Sector Pensions
Trident Consulting, who prepared the Trident Report for
the teacher unions on proposed changes to public sector pensions,
contributed to the RTE programme “Pension Shock” aired on 17 October 2011.
Today Trident Consulting has set out further
information about public sector pensions which was not included in the
programme.
To read more:
Date: Tuesday, 18 October 11
Sheila Nunan Interview on Morning Ireland
Teacher unions ASTI and INTO respond angrily to
government plans to cut public service pensions. Minister Brendan Howlin
spoke yesterday in response to comments made the INTO General Secretary.
Interview with Sheila Nunan (General Secretary, INTO).
Date: Friday, 30 September 11 2011
Pension and Taxation Issues Under Recovery Plan
The following elements are quotes in relation to
pension and taxation from the Plan published by the Government
yesterday:
Retired teachers
- Given the present budgetary constraints, the
Government considers that it is appropriate that some retired Public
Service pensioners make a contribution to the required adjustment.
- The reduction will require legislation to be
passed before the end of the year.
- For existing public service pensioners, the
legislation will provide for an average reduction of some 4% in
pensions (from Jan 2011).
Croke Park Agreement
- The Government has decided to extend the "grace
period" under which pensions are calculated by reference to the
pre-cut rates of public service pay to end-February 2012.
- There is no change in public service pension
scheme terms for existing staff.
- Pensions will be calculated in the usual way
according to those terms.
- Pension lumpsum payments in excess of €200,000
to be taxed.
- For those public servants who retire before the
ending of the 'grace period' at end-February 2012, there will be an
average reduction in pension of some 4%.
- As those who retire after this date are subject
to the pay reduction of 7% on average, which will reduce the pension
and lump sum to be paid, the Government has decided that it would
not be appropriate to also apply the pension reduction to this
group.
- The Public Service Agreement provides
that use of the CPI for post-retirement increases for existing
pensioners and serving staff will be considered as part of the
general discussions on pay and other issues in spring 2011. The
Government has agreed that no change will be applied to the present
pay parity arrangements for existing pensioners and serving staff
during the lifetime of the Agreement, that is up to 2014.
New terms for new entrant public servants
The main provisions for the new scheme decided by
the Government are:
- Raising the minimum pension age to 66 years
initially and 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028.
- A maximum retirement age of 70.
- Career average earnings rather than final salary
will be used to calculate pension.
Legislation will be published shortly facilitating the
introduction of the new scheme in 2011.
The new pension scheme which will apply to new
entrants from 2011 will use the CPI rather than, as at present, a link
to the pay of serving Public Servants to calculate increases for
pensioners.
Elimination of PRSI, health levy and tax
reliefs on pension contributions
- The Plan provides for the elimination of employee
PRSI and Health Levy relief on pension contributions in 2011.
- The rate of income tax relief on pension
contributions will be reduced from 41% to 34% in 2012, to 27% in
2013 and 20% in 2014.
- This will apply to standard pension contributions
and the pension related deduction.
Date: Thursday, 25 November 10 2010
End of an Era
The branch made a
presentation to Carmel Uí Loingsigh at the General meeting on October
18th. Carmel was a long serving member of Branch Committee.
Carmel joined committee in 1984 and served on committee continuously up
to her retirement this summer. She became Branch Organiser from
1993-2002. She was Cathaoirleach of the Branch in 2003. It
is said that a teacher's influence can affect eternity; we can never
tell where Carmel's influence will stop. We wish Carmel and Donal
many happy years in their retirement and we look forward to their
company in the years to come.
For
more pictures of the presentation see Photo Gallery
Teachers Oppose Education Legislation
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Statement by Sheila Nunan, General Secretary,
INTO, on the Education Amendment Bill
Teachers oppose education legislation
The INTO said today it strongly opposes new
legislation introduced in the Dail to allow for the employment of
unqualified persons in place of teachers.
The Education Amendment Bill, introduced by the
government today, will allow the Minister to sanction the employment of
non-teachers as substitute teachers in certain circumstances.
INTO General Secretary, Sheila Nunan, described the
proposed legislation as a calculated insult to teachers and said parents
should be outraged that a Minister was proposing to legislate for
persons with no qualifications to teach children.
Ms. Nunan said problems with finding trained teachers
to cover absences in schools were a thing of the past. "There are now
hundreds of unemployed, fully qualified teachers to be recruited for
this work."
The Bill also proposes that a person who is removed or
suspended from the register of teachers may be employed by a school and
paid by the state.
Ms. Nunan said this was completely unacceptable and
showed the flawed nature of the Bill. "This means that someone who has
been struck off for unprofessional conduct can re-enter through the back
door," said Ms. Nunan.
The primary teachers union said it was not good enough
for a Minister to talk about the desirability of ensuring that in so far
as possible persons employed as teachers are registered teachers. "It is
up to the Minister to do something about it," she said.
The INTO said it was gravely concerned that in the
first six months of this year 129 persons without a teaching
qualification were employed in primary schools on a long term contract
and that more than 50,000 school days were worked by persons without
qualifications earlier this year.
The INTO also said the Minister must go back to the
drawing board and provide that unwaged teachers be given preference over
retired teachers for any available substitute work. She said the
Department must review its own rules and regulations which prevent the
filling of some posts by recently qualified teachers.
This legislation will put the INTO on a direct
collision course with government. In 2007 the union informed government
that from 2013 no teacher will work alongside persons without teaching
qualifications.
"The union was entirely reasonable in providing time
for the DES to ensure that a sufficient numbers of trained teachers were
available for such work," said Ms Nunan. The teacher numbers are now
there. The Minister must ensure they get work.
An INTO delegation comprising of INTO President, Jim Higgins;
INTO General Secretary, Sheila Nunan; and INTO Education Officer, Deirbhile
NicCraith, appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and
Skills today and made a presentation on curriculum reform at primary level.
The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, TD, has told public
service trade union leaders that the Government remains committed to the Croke
Park agreement. Mr. Lenihan gave the assurance to officers from the Public
Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, including INTO
General Secretary, Sheila Nunan, who is vice-chair of the PSC and a member of
the Implementation Body of the Agreement. The agreement is "as safe as houses"
he assured the PSC.
Talks have commenced between the parties to the agreement and
further updates will be posted as they become available.
Every day his staff face the reality of large classes at the
Divine Word National School, Marley Grange, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, where the
average class size is 28 and one teacher has to cope with 32 pupils.
"The emphasis in the new curriculum is on active learning but
that's very difficult in large classes," said Mr Williams.
"It's also tough on special-needs children who are
mainstreamed into larger classes. They are entitled to supports, but if too much
time is devoted to them, other pupils can suffer, especially in larger classes."
Irish National Teachers' Organisation general secretary Sheila
Nunan said low spending on primary education was directly responsible for large
class sizes. "Education at a Glance 2010 shows Irish class sizes are among
the highest in the OECD and the second highest in the EU," she said.
"On average there are 24 pupils in Irish classrooms compared
to an EU average of 20. The smallest classes are in Luxembourg, where there are,
on average, 15 pupils per class."
