The options facing the ASTI in its pay campaign narrowed yesterday as the Minister for Education held a firm line on pay.
During a 70-minute breakfast meeting with the union, Mr Dempsey restated the Government's opposition to any deal outside the terms of the national pay deal and the benchmarking report.
The Minister's firm stance will increase the pressure on the union to compromise when it holds a special convention on pay next month.
The ASTI has been seeking a 30 per cent increase for over two years, but there is now little confidence within the union that it can secure any special deal outside the PPF and benchmarking.
The benchmarking report offered teachers 13 per cent. The timescale for this payment has still to be worked out. Both the TUI and the INTO co-operated with benchmarking but the ASTI refused, saying it would lead to the "industrialisation" of teaching.
It said it presented its case for a pay increase and identified the gap between the pay of teachers and those in comparable professional employment to the Minister.
In a joint statement, both sides confirmed how the Minister "reiterated the Government position in relation to the PPF programme and stated that the pay of public servants must be dealt with within the framework of national pay agreements".
During the meeting, Mr Dempsey signalled his willingness to consider the current state of the teaching profession in another forum, likely to be a commission.
The ASTI also repeated its request to the Minister to defer the introduction of new syllabi in home economics and biology in schools this year. The union has been refusing to co-operate with the introduction of the new syllabi,which has been postponed for two months by the Minister. This, he hopes, will improve the climate in which ASTI members consider the benchmarking report.
Mr Dempsey also asked the union not to use syllabus change as a form of industrial action.
No further meeting between both sides was scheduled although the Minister said he was willing to meet the union at any time.
Later this week, the ASTI will begin a consultation process with members. They will get the opportunity to express their views on the future of the pay campaign and on the continuing ban on supervision work.
Both the INTO and the TUI have accepted the new supervision arrangements at a rate of €37 per hour. Discussions on the pensionability of the new arrangements are continuing.
In a statement, the Fine Gael spokeswoman on education, Ms Olwyn Enright TD, called on the Minister to clarify exactly how he intends to proceed following the breakdown in negotiations with the ASTI.