Ninth Level Ireland

“The bill for public sector pay and pensions is set to rise by more than €1bn to a new peak next year. Wages for State workers and payments to pensioners will hit a combined total of €23bn. The pay bill is expected to increase by just under 5%, or €925m, to €19.6bn. Pension costs will jump 5.2%, or €166m, to €3.3bn …” (more)

[Anne-Marie Walsh, Independent, 12 October]

“Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members have voted overwhelmingly to renew their mandate for industrial action over two-tier pay rates. The ballot was passed by a margin of 92% to 8% to endorse the union’s mandate for industrial action, up to and including strike action, as part of its campaign for equal pay …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 10 October]

“The IUA welcomes the Budget provisions for higher education for known increases in student numbers in 2020 and pay provisions under national wage agreements. We understand this cautious approach to the Budget by the government in the context of the considerable uncertainty arising from Brexit. However, it must be recognised that the Budget does not address the growing gap in core funding of our third level system …” (more)

[IUA, 9 October]

“An Ulster University lecturer has criticised the institution’s ‘galling’ spending after it emerged 65 staff were paid at least £100,000 each year. Right-wing pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) announced the finding after submitting Freedom of Information requests to 120 universities across the UK …” (more)

[Allan Preston, Belfast Telegraph, 3 October]

“The term ‘lace curtain poverty’ was coined to refer to situations where the objective reality of being impoverished is compounded by the additional complication whereby your circumstances are assumed by neighbours and the wider community to be at a much more comfortable (even prosperous) level than they actually are …” (more)

[IFUT, 16 September]

“Teachers at Dublin City University’s English language school have said an offer to increase their pay by 50 cents an hour is ‘humiliating’ and ‘insulting’. Teachers at the school are looking to increase their pay from €24.60 to €35 per hour, close to what they were paid before the recession …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 16 September]

“Despite being better educated overall – women aged 25-64, with a degree in Ireland earn 28% less than their male counterparts, according to a new report. This is among the findings in an annual overview of structure, finances and performance of education systems in the developed world, by the international think-tank OECD …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 10 September]

“Ireland has the largest pay gap between men and women with third level qualifications in the OECD. Education at a Glance, which was published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, shows that men educated to third level in Ireland earn more than their female peers …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 10 September]

“The Education Oversight Body was established as a result of the Public Services Pay Agreement to act as a ‘fast-track’ clearing house for disputes which arise regarding the specific education-related provisions of the Agreement …” (more)

[IFUT, 2 September]

“An annual Irish League of Credit Unions survey published on August 19 revealed some dismaying statistics on the financial struggles of third-level students in Ireland. While 74% of students having to work during the college term to cope with costs is generally manageable, 55% of students say they often skip lectures in favour of paid work …” (more)

[Lucien Waugh-Daly, The College View, 1 September]

“A teachers’ union is to ballot members next month to renew its mandate for industrial action as tensions rise over controversial two-tier pay scales. The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has announced it will ballot its 18,000 members for a mandate for industrial action, up to and including strike action, as part of its campaign to end pay discrimination …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 28 August]

“The averge graduate starting salary has now exceeded €30,000, according to a new report. The average starting salary is now €30,409, up from €29,060 last year, figures in the latest GradIreland salary and recruitment trends survey show …” (more)

[Órla Ryan, TheJournal.ie, 28 August]

“A chara, – The creation of 75 women-only professorships is a textbook example of how members of the higher socio-economic classes who have connections and influence in political and media circles can bend the the Government into making irrational and fiscally irresponsible decisions to their advantage, with all parties assuming the taxpayer will foot the substantial bill …” (more)

[Dave Slater, Irish Times, 25 July]

“Within a year, a pay gap emerged between male and female graduates, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show. Men who graduated from higher education here in 2012 were earning an average weekly wage of €425 the year after they graduated – €1,055 a year more than women who graduated at the same time …” (more)

[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 18 July]

“Technology graduates are earning significantly more than other graduates within five years of leaving college, according to major study by the Central Statistics Office. The CSO survey tracked the earnings of hundreds of thousands of graduates who left college between 2012 and 2016 using income recorded through the PAYE system …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 19 July]

“Jonathan O’Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the planned unwinding of FEMPI measures in line with the Public Service Stability Agreement for each of the years 2019 to 2023 disaggregated by wage bracket …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 25 June]

“The Government will face claims for special pay rises of 6% from staff in the public service as compensation if it does not roll back additional working hours introduced after the economic crisis, one of the country’s main unions has warned …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 8 May]

“The Government will face down any union demands to abolish the pension levy which was imposed on public sector workers during the financial crash, the Sunday Independent has learnt. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will vehemently oppose any changes to pension contributions paid by public sector workers during future pay talks with unions …” (more)

[Philip Ryan and Ralph Riegel, Independent, 5 May]

“The Government will be very relieved the dispute by 40,000 nurses which caused chaos in the country’s hospital system this year has been brought to a close. However, the settlement has come at a significant price, about €50 million over this year and next year, and potentially more depending on whether offsetting productivity measures materialise …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 2 May]

“Public service unions have had discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure on a review of the pay terms set out in the agreement for State employees, informed sources have said. Minister of Education Joe McHugh said on Tuesday he was aware that the parties to the Public Service Stability Agreement were engaged in exploratory discussions …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 25 April]