The general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), Senator Joe O'Toole, has denied there is a rift in the union over performance-related pay.
He said a lot of teachers were "confused and worried" about performance-related pay but he would be judged on what emerged from the national pay talks. Amid reports that some INTO branches have come out strongly against the idea, Senator O'Toole said the union's position was that it would "look at performance-related systems but not necessarily accept those proposed by the Government".
He said that so far in the talks, "I've not seen any system of performance-related pay which is satisfactory to me".
Several branches of the INTO are meeting this week and motions on performance-related pay are down for discussion. While many of these branches are expected to vote against the concept, the INTO executive has so far backed Senator O'Toole.
Senator O'Toole said yesterday he completely opposed "individualised" performance-related pay for teachers, but said the union should be prepared to discuss other systems. On the decision of the ASTI to leave the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Senator O'Toole said it was ironic that the union was leaving when the early settlers' pay claim was going to be resolved. The early settlers issue arises because secondary teachers settled early in the last national pay round and consequently claim they have fallen behind other public sector groups.
Last night, Mr Joe Duffy, a Dublin-based INTO member who is part of a campaign against performance-related pay, said: "The idea that this means extra money for teachers is an illusion." He said that by being prepared to discuss the issue, Senator O'Toole was allowing the "Government to get its foot in the door" and introduce a system of performance-related pay that could be expanded in the future.