Irish teachers seeking a “substantial” pay increase to compensate for inflation

Industrial action has not been ruled out.

Teachers in Ireland are seeking a “substantial” pay increase to offset the rising cost of living in the country. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday morning, the ASTI teacher’s union General Secretary Kieran Christie said the union would be seeking a pay increase of between 6% and 8%. "We are seeking an increase in relation to pay to compensate for [the cost of living] and the truth of the matter is that the planned increases on top of the ineffectual increases we've had over the last couple of years won't cut it, and we need a substantial pay rise to compensate for that, and to put teaching back on an even keel," Christie said. When asked if the union - which represents 18,000 teachers - would consider industrial action to achieve this goal, he said it was “too early” to say that but the ASTI “certainly” wouldn’t rule it out. Christie was speaking ahead of the ASTI’s annual conference which takes place on Tuesday, with Minister for Education Norma Foley due to address the conference. Minister Foley will also address primary school teachers in Killarney on Tuesday as teacher's conferences are held in-person for the first time in two years. High on the list of priorities for primary school teachers is an emergency motion calling for additional resources to be provided to schools in order to help with the integration of Ukrainian school children. It comes as it was revealed primary school children in Ireland could be taught Ukrainian under an initiative which aims to increase students exposure to foreign languages. Minister Foley announced the extension of the “Say Yes to Languages” primary languages sampler module and invited primary schools to apply to participate in the module.