Primary teacher union INTO is calling for a special allowance to be paid to staff working in cities to compensate for higher living costs there.
It comes after delegates told the union’s annual congress about their struggles to afford to live in places such as Dublin. Delegates have now instructed the union to negotiate with the Department of Education for additional payments, so they can continue to live in the cities where they work. Similar allowances are paid in London to help teachers under pressure from high rental costs.
The INTO says the cost of living and housing crises have placed additional financial pressures on teachers. Typically, people living in cities pay more on rent or mortgages and also on costs like childcare. INTO is the first teacher union here to formally adopt a position seeking such an allowance.
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Its deputy general secretary Deirdre O’Connor said: “There’s no getting over the difficulty that teachers can’t afford to live in places like Dublin and that schools in Dublin can’t recruit teachers, or they recruit teachers and then they find they can’t take up the post because they can’t get a place to live.
“We’re concerned particularly about the people on the lower end of the scale, starting their careers and finding it difficult. Another element to be worked out is the quantum of the allowance that would allow the teacher to have a decent standard of living in a particular area.
“We don’t have a particular view on how or where it would work.” Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis and the need to establish better progression to higher level for students with additional needs, are just some of the key issues being raised by union Forsa as
its Education Division Conference gets under way. Their members are among the lowest paid staff in the sector.
Chief Andy Pike told RTE: “They are facing pressures to do with the rising cost of accommodation. They are noticing that the price of foodstuffs has increased significantly. Members are increasingly worried about what the future holds in terms of just their ability to get by.”
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