No special deals for teachers this time round Officials at the Department of Education are jubilant at their new-found popularity with the Department of Finance, writes Emmet Oliver , Education Correspondent Senior officials at the Department of Education have been going around with ample smiles on their faces in the last fortnight . The denizens of Marlborough Street, used to toiling in one of the more obscure Government outposts, are jubilant at their new-found popularity with the Department of Finance. Many of the older hands in the Department were around during the hair shirt 1980s when cutbacks were constant and spending was a dirty word. Now there appears to be money for everything.
Education is in vogue.
Along with officials in the Department of Health and Children, they have been the big winners in this year's spending carve-up and their Minister, Dr Woods, who has been having a rough time from teachers, will no doubt be pleased. His officials appear so satisfied with their lot it is hard to believe there is a teachers' strike on at all. While this will allow the Department to give teachers a few sweeteners this does not include pay awards outside the national pay deal. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, made it quite clear when announcing his Estimates that no special deals were available for teachers. Eight days of industrial action has not changed this position.