To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the reasons why further education lecturers receive lower pay than teachers at both primary and post-primary school level.

Further Education lecturers’ pay, as well as the terms and conditions of employment, are matters for the Further Education colleges as employers. The pay, and the terms and conditions, for teachers are the responsibility of the Department of Education.

As I am committed to ensuring that the pay and conditions provided to Further Education lecturers fully recognises the range of teaching and learning that they deliver to our students, I have approved a budget envelope which has allowed the Further Education colleges to make a revised pay offer consisting of an increase of lecturers’ starting salary to £30,000 plus a pay increase of 8.4% and a consolidated £1,000 on all other pay points. This is a first step towards parity with teachers.