The result of a ballot of members of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, ASTI, is expected to be announced today. The ballot was held because of major issues surrounding teachers' pay as well as issues surrounding supervision and substitution duties. Despite some minor concessions on the Government's part, the deal put to teachers remains largely the same as that proposed before teachers went out on strike last October. The ASTI executive has recommended that its members should reject the deal on offer. If they do, industrial action will resume and schools will close again. As any parent will tell the Tánaiste, this will be very disruptive. As any student, particularly those in exam years, will tell her, it will also be very stressful.

Teachers have legitimate concerns about their pay and conditions. Their concerns are justifiably shared across the public sector following seven years of pay cuts, but the teaching profession in particular has been affected as it is the one area in which a large number of new recruits had to be employed over the past ten years because of demographic pressures. Teachers and the rest of our public sector workers want and deserve fair pay restoration. They are not looking for a pay increase, but pay restoration, that is, to be simply given back what was taken away.

The demands of teachers are not insurmountable but they remain unresolved because the Government has its head stuck firmly in the sand. The issue of pay equality, which was a central reason for industrial action in October has not been addressed in the slightest, but it must be addressed. New entrants - those who started teaching from January 2011 - start on a pay scale that is on average 10% less than their colleagues'. The Government has no plan to address that situation. Worse still, there is no commitment to equal pay for equal work.

I am of the firm view that this issue must be resolved before the scheduled ending of the Lansdowne Road agreement. The clock is ticking and kicking the can down the road will not resolve the problem. Will the Tánaiste, on behalf of Government, today commit unequivocally to the principle of pay equality for teachers? Will she agree that the issue of pay equality - equal reward for equal effort - for post-2011 teachers must be addressed and confirm that it will be addressed before the scheduled ending of the Lansdowne Road agreement?

I welcome the fact that the central executive committee of the ASTI took a decision to put the outcome of the recent talks process to a ballot of its members. We should await the result which will be announced later today.

On the points raised, it is critical to note that three quarters of the gap for new entrants described by the Deputy has been closed in this deal. It is a good offer that was made following negotiations with all the trade unions. This was a final offer and we should respect the ballot process. A new pay process is starting under the Public Sector Pay Commission which will address the issues raised by the Deputy.

There are immediate benefits to individual ASTI members in accepting the offer. The current deal on the table would see new teachers get a 15% to 22% increase in their salaries, beginning in January; immediate backdated payments for supervision and substitution for all teachers; restoration of increments; and increased flexibility in how the Croke Park hours are used in schools. Acceptance would also mean that ASTI members can avail of a new voluntary opt-out from the supervision and substitution scheme and would provide for earlier permanency for those on fixed-term contracts as well as new arrangements for securing additional hours for part-timers. The Deputy will see why I say the deal on offer is a good one. I hope the result of the ballot later today will be positive.

It is important to note that under the package announced in the recent budget, which was also significant, there will be greater promotion opportunities on offer in schools for new teachers coming into the system.

These benefits are only available to ASTI members if they vote to accept the package. The proposals also include arrangements for addressing concerns about the junior cycle, including arrangements for ensuring that no current third year students miss out on marks in their English examination.

I accept that the ASTI has outstanding pay demands and that the deal does not travel the full distance it set out to achieve. However, it represents significant progress, as I indicated. The door is certainly not closed to the trade union movement seeking to advance the issue further in the context of our public service pay talks when they get under way.

The Tánaiste's response, while not unexpected, is nonetheless alarming and I am sure it will cause alarm among teachers, students and parents alike. The alarm resides in the following simple matter. Why can no Minister commit, as a matter of principle, to equal pay for equal work? That is what this issue boils down to. Nobody expects pay restoration to happen overnight and it is accepted, including by teachers, that no one has a magic wand. Why can the Government not make a commitment for new entrants who are currently disadvantaged, employed on a discriminatory basis and do not receive equal pay? Why can it not commit to implement equal pay for equal work over an agreed timescale? This is what needs to happen. Irrespective of the outcome of the ballot, which is a matter for the members of the ASTI to decide, this issue will remain outstanding. Why does the principle of equal pay for equal work and effort not apply for new and young teachers?

Why does it not apply to Sinn Féin Deputies?

Unlike Fine Gael Deputies, we are not on the gravy train.

Sinn Féin applies double standards.

The Deputy needs to calm down.

Can we have silence, please? It would be helpful if Deputy Deasy did not provoke Opposition Deputies.

I put it to Deputy McDonald that the choice for ASTI members-----

My question concerned the Government.

I will answer the Deputy's question. The choice is whether to accept the immediate benefits on offer and participate, with the other trade unions, in the further process of engagement or forgo these immediate benefits in favour of a very unpredictable future. It is for the ASTI leadership to explain its strategy in that respect. For the Government's part, as Deputy McDonald is aware, our approach to the budget was that we have a recovering economy with significant demands and we have to balance supporting those who are dependent on social welfare and taxpayers. If we did not have tax revenue, we would not be able to invest in services or implement the type of pay restoration that is under way.

The Tánaiste should answer the question, which was on equal pay for work of equal value.

The answer to the question is that in terms of balancing this range of issues, the Government has taken the most prudent and careful decisions possible. We have also set up a process to engage with the trade unions and discuss future pay restoration, which will deal with those issues.

Does the Government not believe in pay equality?