Written answer
School Staff
The Minister said career-break teachers will retain the fixed substitute rate for their first 40 primary days or 150 post-primary hours, with no policy review planned.
214. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she will review the policy whereby the first 40 days of substitute teaching undertaken by teachers on career break are paid at a flat daily rate rather than at the teacher's personal point on the salary scale. [66211/26]
Comment on this
A Career Break is a period of special leave without pay. The main objective of the Career Break Scheme is to facilitate applicants, where possible, in relation to areas such as personal development, public representation and for educational purposes.
While time on Career Break is unpaid, the provisions of the scheme do allow for a teacher on Career Break to carry out limited substitute teaching while on Career Break. While those limits have been relaxed in recent years to assist in the supply of substitute teachers, the relaxation of those rules is a temporary measure and is subject to annual review and extension.
While the Career Break scheme does allow for the provision of some substitute teaching by teachers on Career Break, this is not the primary aim of the scheme and the scheme is unpaid.
The rules as regards the payment of substitute teaching service therefore apply to teachers on Career Break. The rules state that a qualified substitute teacher will be paid at a fixed daily rate, known as the casual rate of pay, until they have worked for a period in excess of 40 days (Primary) or 150 hours (Post-Primary) in a school during the academic year.
Substitute hours worked as a teacher in excess of those periods will be paid at the teacher’s personal rate.
The Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) forms part of the Scheme of Conciliation and Arbitration for Teachers, the purpose of which is to provide a forum for claims and proposals relating to the salary, and other terms & conditions of service for teachers.
The Council is comprised of representatives from the Teacher Unions, the School Management Bodies, the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, and the Department of Education and Youth. The TCC is independently chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission. The terms and conditions of teachers employed in State funded teaching posts are formulated at TCC and any proposed changes to those terms and conditions are negotiated via the TCC.
It is not currently intended to carry out a review of this policy as it applies to teachers on career break.