Media Coverage
INTO in the Media
Further cuts for special needs pupils - Irish Examiner
19th June 2013
Quinn expected to allow just 75% of recommended resource hours. Children with special needs face further cuts to resource teaching as the Government forces schools to cater for more pupils without increased staffing levels. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn will face a backlash from parents as schools learn today how a combination of rising enrolments and a cap on special needs staff will mean less time for pupils with their resource teachers or children being taught in larger groups in September...The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said there is no room for further cuts to special needs resources. "The Government has failed to increase resources in line with diagnosed needs or increased enrolments. The result is that schools are already juggling resources and stretching them to the limit to support special needs children," said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan...
Teachers' union expects reversal of pay cuts by 2018 as part of deal - RTE.ie
18th June 2013
Sheila Nunan said reversal of cuts was important in terms of accepting the Haddington Road proposals. The general secretary of the country's largest teaching union has said the proposed restoration of allowances and original salary levels by 2018 was important in terms of the union accepting the Haddington Road proposals. Under the new deal, national school teachers will no longer be paid the current supervision and substitution allowance, while those earning over €65,000 per year will face pay cuts.
Midlands Today - Midlands 103
18th June 2013
Haddington Road - Bryan O’Reilly (INTO) discusses the group voting in favour to accept the Haddington Road deal. [11:10am]
Kildare Today - KFM
18th June 2013
INTO and Haddington Road - Discussion about the Primary school teachers' union members support for the Haddington Road agreement -Interview: Sheila Nunan (INTO)
Primary school teachers vote for the Haddington Road Deal – Irish Daily Mail
18th June 2013
Primary school teachers have voted to accept the Haddington Road Agreement on public sector pay. A ballot of members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation last night accepted the deal – with 63 per cent in favour and 37 per cent against...Speaking after the counting of ballots, the general secretary of the INTO Sheila Nunan welcomed the outcome of the vote. “The teachers have not so much backed the Haddington Road proposals, as rejected the Government’s alternative,” said Ms Nunan. She said they offered more protection to teachers and their families than the Government’s alternative plans for public service pay. Describing the outcome as a pragmatic choice between two unpalatable options, Ms Nunan said primary school teachers were determined to ensure that the Government keeps its word in terms of the alleviation of the cutbacks...
Primary teachers vote to accept Haddington Road proposals - thejournal.ie
18th June 2013
Primary teachers have voted to accept the Haddington Road proposals on public service pay. INTO, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, said a ballot of its members showed 63 per cent are in favour and 37 per cent are against the proposals...
Primary teachers vote to accept Haddington Road proposals - Newstalk
18th June 2013
INTO: 'its lesser of two evils'- Primary teachers have voted to accept the Haddington Road proposals on public service pay describing it as 'the lesser of two evils'. 63 per cent of members of the INTO voted in favour of these Governments proposals in a ballot announced this evening. Earlier this year, members had rejected the Croke Park 2 deal- but after subsequent changes by the Government it led to the Haddington Road proposals. This evenings acceptance will be seen as an encouraging sign by the Government in its bid to reduce the public service pay bill by 300 million euro this year and 1 euro billion over three years. Noel Ward from the INTO says todays outcome was not an endorsement but an opinion that it was the better of two alternatives. "I think that our members decided that they were better knowing, with some assurances, what the future held, rather than taking their chances under the government legislation."...
Primary teachers say ‘yes’ to pay proposals - Irish Examiner
18th June 2013
Primary teachers have voted by a decisive majority to accept the Haddington Road public sector pay proposals. In the ballot counted last night, the teachers backed the deal by 63% to 37%, nearly a complete swingaround from their Croke Park II stance...
Primary teachers vote to accept Haddington Road deal - Irish Times
18th June 2013
INTO executive had urged acceptance of deal . The union representing national school teachers is to announce the result of its ballot on the proposed new Haddington Road agreement on cutting the public service pay bill later today. Primary school teachers have voted to accept the proposed new Haddington Road agreement on reducing the State’s pay and pensions bill. In a ballot result announced tonight, members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) voted in favour of the proposed deal by 63 per cent to 37 per cent. Members of the INTO decisively rejected the Croke Park II proposals several weeks ago. However the Government agreed to significant changes as part of the process that led to the emergence of the Haddington road proposals...
Primary teachers back pay deal - Irish Independent
18th June 2013
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) is the only teaching union to support the Haddington Road deal and has given the Government a major boost in getting overall agreement . Members voted 63% in favour of the pay cuts and working reforms. Sheila Nunan, INTO general secretary, said the deal was a pragmatic choice between the Croke Park II proposals put forward by the Government and the new deal. "Teachers have not so much backed the Haddington Road proposals as rejected the Government's alternative," she said...
Nine News - FM104
18th June 2013
Haddington Road - Members of the INTO have voted in favour of the Haddington Road public pay agreement. Noel Ward (INTO) comments
Nine News - Q102, Today FM & RTE Radio 1
18th June 2013
Haddington Road - Members of the INTO have voted in favour of the Haddington Road public pay agreement
Morning Ireland - RTE Radio 1
18th June 2013
Haddington road agreement - Sheila Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) discusses the INTO voting to accept the Haddington Road Agreement. Discusses the vote that was passed despite 30% of members voting no as well as the ASTI and TUI opposing the proposals...
INTO members back Haddington Road proposals - rte.ie Breaking News
Primary school teachers have voted to accept the Haddington Road proposals on public service pay. In a ballot this evening, Irish National Teachers' Organisation members voted to back the proposals, with 63% in favour and 37% against...
Tommy Marren - Midwest Radio
13th June 2013
School Uniforms - Peter Mullan (INTO) discusses school uniforms being made in third world countries. [9:38am]
Kerry Today - Radio Kerry
12th June 2013
Schools - Margaret Bernard (Irish National Teachers Organisation) discusses the practice of giving teachers gifts at the end of the year. She also discusses the report showing that more primary school children are coming in hungry and tired into school. [9:38am]
Nine News - FM104
12th June 2013
Children - A report shows that a growing number of Irish primary school children are showing up tired and hungry in the mornings. Peter Mullan (Irish National Teachers Organisation) comments.
Primary students aren't taught key maths skills - Irish Independent
12th June 2013
The poor performance of Irish teenagers in maths can be traced back to the primary school classroom, a major report has found. The new study suggests that what primary pupils are taught may be at the root of the problem of Ireland's below-average standing in maths internationally when they move on to second level...Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) general secretary Sheila Nunan said the INTO was on record as demanding more time for maths teaching, ongoing teacher training and development and improvements in the quality of maths textbooks...
Teachers face daily struggle with sleepy, hungry pupils - Irish Examiner
12th June 2013
Teachers in almost two thirds of primary school classrooms are struggling to teach their students because the children have not had enough sleep. Pupils are also struggling to concentrate because they are not properly nourished. In a report released by the Educational Research Centre, the fatigue is blamed on the fact that 54% of the 10-year-olds surveyed have a television in their bedroom and 19% have a computer. ...The report, based around the findings of an international survey, found that 62% of teachers said their classes of 10-year-olds contained pupils who were not sufficiently rested. That is 13% above the international average of 48% reported across the 60 countries. In Japan, just 20% of teachers reported the problem...The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation argues that, in spite of that finding, the report also showed high levels of satisfaction with parental involvement in their children’s education...
Eur 15m scheme to end prefab schools for 2,600 students - Evening Herald
10th June 2013
Over 2,600 students are to move from prefab accommodation to proper school buildings under a Eur15m scheme. A total of 46 schools nationwide, with 115 prefab units, are being offered grants to provide the new facilities...The Irish National Teachers' Organisation has previously told how prefabs, whether bought or rented, are unsuitable educational accommodation, explaining how they are "too hot in summer and too cold in winter and the acoustics are often as poor as the insulation".
Teachers warn cuts to school repair fund 'are sowing the seeds of a crisis' - Irish Daily Mail
10th June 2013
Primary teachers have warned that the 'seeds of another buildings crisis are being sown' because of Government cuts. Schools may not have funds to fix leaking roofs, heating systems or carry out painting jobs after Eduction Minister Ruairi Quinn froze grants, they claim...The INTO said schools were 'returning to the mess' they were in more than two decades ago, finding themselves unable to maintain buildings - some of which were built more than 100 years ago. 'The small jobs done regularly as minor repairs will be allowed to build up to the extent that they will become an emergency,' an INTO spokesman said. 'Let's hope some kid or teacher is not seriously injured while the department waits for these to develop into real risks,' he said...An INTO spokesman said that a number of schools may have had some finances to tide them over last year. However, these funds were now drying up.
15m initiative to end scourge of school prefab - Irish Daily Mail
8th June 2013
Children attending 46 schools are to have leaking, poorly insulated substandard prefabs replaced with classrooms...Although the INTO has welcomed the funding, the union has raised concerns about some of the terms and conditions such as insisting that replacement accommodation be 'stand-alone' rather than integrated into the main school building.
Hurray, no more homework... but longer school day - Evening Herald
8th June 2013
No homework? Not a bad idea says our parents' council. It's the stuff children's dreams are made off. Sunshine outside and schools banned from giving homework. One school in Britain is adopting such a plan so that families can spend more quality times together. And the National Parents' Council agrees....However an Irish National Teachers Organisation spokesman stressed the importance of homework - and ruled out any extension to the Primary school day or year in Ireland. "Homework is the most regular and one of the most important links between home and school," a spokesman said. "It lets a parent get involved in their child's school work and see on a regular basis how they are doing in school. "It recognises that learning extends beyond the four walls of the classroom. It should encourage independent learning." Schools' policy on homework at primary level had changed over the years, recognising that most parents work outside the home, he said.
School projects get €50m boost - Irish Independent
6th June 2013
Another 28 school building projects are getting the go-ahead thanks to a €50m investment under the Government's new package. The 28 schools are in addition to 275 major school building projects already announced in March 2012. The investment will see 18 primary schools and 10 post-primary schools replaced or refurbished for the benefit of over 12,000 pupils. The Department of Education's total investment in the new projects will come to €100m, with the balance coming from the existing €2.2bn five-year school building budget. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said that, despite economic difficulties, the need to replace inadequate educational infrastructure remained. The INTO welcomed the announcement as good news for the schools concerned...
State funds to end school’s ‘Dickensian’ conditions - Irish Examiner
6th June 2013
Michael O’Donnell had begun to despair of it ever happening, but yesterday the principal of Glenville National School in north Cork was breathing a sigh of relief that, after years of waiting, tortuous planning applications and frustrating delays, the Government had finally agreed to fund the building of a new school. He could hardly resist an “it’s about time” comment when told the news that his school is to be included in the national stimulus programme for school projects but his over-riding reaction was one of delight. “We have spent the last six years fluting around with the Department of Education and it has been hugely frustrating, but this is fantastic news.” Mindful, though, of departmental obfuscation surrounding the school’s application, he is hesitant to acknowledge that the long wait is over...
Boost for schools in Howlin's back yard - Irish Daily Mail
6th June 2013
Three projects announced in a 50million investment 'stimulus' in schools are in Brendan Howlin's constituency, it emerged yesterday...The INTO last night welcomed the announcement but said there were still thousands of pupils in prefab buildings. The union called for the reinstatement of the minor repair grant and the summer works grant. 'Existing schools must be maintained regularly. It is a false economy to let valuable educational infrastructure fall into disrepair,' said the spokesman.