Written answer
School Staff
Incremental credit was refused because the claimed teaching service was self-employed, not service under a contract of employment as required by the relevant criteria; the appeals committee upheld that decision. Department officials can discuss supporting documentation with the ETB, but a meeting alone would not change the outcome.
58. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason incremental credit has been refused to a person (details supplied); and if officials from her Department can meet with the applicant to resolve the issue. [74654/26]
Comment on this
As the Deputy may be aware, the criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in my Department's Circulars 10/2001 for primary teachers and 29/2007 and 29/2010 for post-primary teachers. These circulars provide for the award of incremental credit in respect of certain prior teaching service, including overseas teaching service.
There is no contractual entitlement to incremental credit. Applicants must submit a completed application for assessment and any award is determined in accordance with the agreed criteria set out in the relevant circulars.
The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers were agreed under the auspices of the Teachers' Conciliation Council (TCC) and are subject to review through the established TCC mechanisms. Any changes to these criteria must be agreed through those arrangements.
In relation to the specific case referred to by the Deputy, a solicitor's letter was received by my Department while the case was under consideration by the independent Incremental Credit Appeals Committee. The Committee had previously deferred its consideration of the appeal to allow for the submission of additional information.
The Appeals Committee subsequently considered the case in October 2019 and upheld the Department's original decision. The Committee found that the service being claimed constituted self-employed service. Under the relevant post-primary incremental credit circulars, prior service must have been completed under a contract of employment in order to be reckonable for incremental credit purposes. As the service claimed did not meet this requirement, it could not be awarded incremental credit.
More recently, the teacher submitted a further application through Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB). As required under the incremental credit arrangements, the Department considered the recommendation submitted by the ETB. However, the documentation provided did not establish that the service claimed met the requirements of the relevant circulars and, consequently, incremental credit could not be awarded.
In relation to the suggestion that the decision was discriminatory, the service in question was deemed to be self-employed service and the determination of eligibility for incremental credit was made solely by reference to the criteria contained in the relevant circulars.
While officials remain available to engage with KWETB regarding any documentation required in support of an application, decisions on incremental credit must be made in accordance with the agreed criteria and procedures governing the scheme. A meeting with officials could not alter the outcome of an application unless additional documentation relevant to the assessment were provided.