The Teachers Union of Ireland is calling on members to accept the proposed agreement with the Department of Education and Skills.

In a communication to members, the TUI has stated that the proposed agreement provides tangible concessions with additional stepping stones for further progress on workload, terms and conditions, bureaucracy and professional autonomy.

Members say budget cuts have had a huge effect on the education sector, however.

TUI Executive Committee member Martin Marjoram said that there are a number of issues they feel the Department has failed to address.

“The casualisation of our profession is one of the worst things,” he said.

“The fact that we do have so many teachers who are on a fragment of job, having worked so hard to be extraordinarily well qualified and being so committed to being only able to secure six hours or eight hours a week – it really is unacceptable that has to be addressed.

“The other thing of course is equal pay for equal work – our new colleagues should be on the same rates of pay as the rest of us.”