1.6.2 Salaries

1.6.2 Salaries

The starting salaries of primary and post-primary teachers are above the OECD average

Comparative data39 on teachers’ 2020 salaries indicates that, because of the common starting scale, the starting salary for teachers at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary level is the same, whereas internationally it varies by level and also within the secondary sector. Starting salaries in Ireland are 2% lower than the OECD average in upper secondary education, 3% higher in lower secondary education and 6% higher in primary education (Table 1.16). Starting salaries in Ireland are also higher than the EU22 average at primary and lower secondary phases.

Table 1.16: Teachers’ average starting salary in 2020 in Ireland – comparison with OECD and EU22 countries

	Primary	Lower Secondary	Upper Secondary
Ireland (USD)	37,096	37,096	37,096
OECD average (USD)	34,942	36,116	37,811
EU22 average (USD)	35,220	36,587	37,571

Source: OECD (2021) Education at a Glance 2021. Available at https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/

glance/ 38 This could occur where staff members who were identified in line with HSE guidance as at ‘very high risk’ of Covid-19 were advised to cocoon. 39 Statutory salaries reported in this indicator are not the same as actual expenditures on salaries. Differences in taxation, pension provision and various non-salary benefits are not factored into these comparisons.

Throughout the period to which this report refers, a long-standing industrial relations issue concerning teachers’ salaries persisted between teachers’ unions and the Department of Education. The dispute centred on a salary differential between teachers hired before the economic crisis in 2011 and those hired after that date at a lower salary. The issue had not been completely resolved at the time of writing this report.