INTO work‑to‑rule to affect parents as teachers cut non‑core hours

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) has said that the work‑to‑rule action it is planning will cause “some difficulties” for parents.

Around 70,000 members of the INTO and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) will limit their duties to core teaching hours, ending supervision of children before and after school.

INTO General Secretary John Boyle told Newstalk Breakfast that Irish teachers are over‑worked, noting primary teachers have the highest pupil‑contact hours worldwide and are on standby for 43 hours to cover playground duties and absent colleagues because the Government has not provided substitutes.

Insurance companies have warned schools that only teachers may supervise children on school grounds, meaning parents will need to arrange alternative childcare for the periods previously covered by teachers.

Boyle said the union will not implement the “Croke Park hours” introduced during austerity, nor hold parent‑teacher meetings or staff meetings outside school hours, which have been provided for free for years.

The last public‑sector pay deal expired in June, and negotiations with the Government have stalled. Boyle criticised the Government, calling the lapse an “absolute disgrace” and rejecting ministers’ claims that unions set pre‑conditions for talks.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers described industrial action as unnecessary, saying the upcoming budget will contain a pay deal for public‑sector workers.

Source: Newstalk. Photo: Aleksandar Spasojevic / Pexels.