A Dublin allowance for frontline workers working in Dublin will not work, the Teachers' Union of Ireland General Secretary has claimed.
Calls are mounting for frontline workers, such as nurses, teachers and Gardaí, to receive extra pay for living in Dublin.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation has called for “the introduction of an allowance for teachers similar to the London Weighting Allowance to compensate for higher living costs in cities”.
The group have said the school staffing shortage is particularly acute in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare, where more than half of schools have unfilled teaching posts.
However, on Newstalk Breakfast, the Teachers' Union of Ireland General Secretary Michael Gillespie said he thinks there are better ways to overcome that.
“We've been hearing this for a long time, it's a very complicated question,” he said.
“If you give a Dublin allowance, the first thing that will happen is your ability to borrow money goes up, therefore prices go up.
“We would favour something like what did work in certain boroughs in London, which was reduced rents or cheaper loans to make houses more affordable for key workers and obviously better public transport so we can move people quicker in and out of the city.
“We don't believe a Dublin allowance is going to work - what about other urban areas?”
A teacher in class with students. Image: Roman Lacheev / Alamy Stock PhotoMr Gillespie said he has a lot of questions around the idea of a Dublin specific pay increase.
“How big an allowance is it? How much is it going to take to make Dublin more attractive? Is it going to be sustainable? Or is it going to just add to the inflationary cost of property?” he asked.
“But the bottom line is it hasn't worked in other countries - in London they still cannot fill teaching positions in London.”
“I think there's so many uncertain questions and Ireland has evolved so differently to other countries, it would be very difficult to apply it in that for to just Dublin.”
Image: A teacher and students in a classroom.
