‘I’m devastated, my wife and I are wondering why we came back’ – teacher’s four years’ work in Dubai not reflected in pay

Richie Cosgrave (42), who now teaches in St Augustine’s College in Co Waterford, has said he is currently unable to get a mortgage.

He believes teachers who choose to go abroad to work in private schools in the Middle East and Australia are being “discriminated against”.

After spending five years studying in Ireland, Mr Cosgrave decided to move to Dubai for work because he was made an offer that was too good to turn down.

The school which offered him a job agreed to pay for his flights and find him accommodation.

In 2018, Mr Cosgrave decided to move back to Ireland with his wife, a primary school teacher originally from Canada.

However, while his wife’s years abroad were recognised, his four years teaching chemistry were not.

“When you get your first pay cheque, that’s when you find out if your application for the incremental pay credit was successful,” Mr Cosgrave said.

“I was devastated when I found out mine wasn’t. Private secondary schools outside the EU are currently the only schools not recognised.

“The fact that every increment goes against what mortgage you can get… I couldn’t purchase the house I wanted and now we’re in a situation where we can’t get a house at all.

“I will always be minus those four years I taught. I came from five years living as a student and paying €7,000 for my postgraduate in education, I had a debt that I had to repay. I was flown out to Dubai, picked up at the airport and brought to my accommodation.

“I worked out there for four years and had a chance to save money for a deposit for a house.

“You got paid once a month and there was no issue. The weather was fantastic. I would never have been able to repay my loan, let alone save for a house if I stayed in Ireland.

“Property prices have gone through the roof and my wife and I are looking at each other wondering what have we come back for.”

Mr Cosgrave has two children aged four and five. His family is currently renting. He said it is difficult when he compares his life with his friends who stayed teaching in the Middle East.

“They are still out there and they are not going to take the chance to come home,” he said.

“They have absolute security with their jobs and housing. When you come back to Ireland, you just don’t have that any more.”

Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) unanimously passed a motion at their conference in Wexford yesterday to demanding that all years of teaching service abroad in recognised second-level schools shall be included in the calculation of incremental credit.

If incremental credit is granted, a teacher will be moved up the pay scale.