''We have attempted to restore pay parity since 2011''.
Second level schools, Colleges of Further Education and Institutes of Technology/Technological Universities will be affected by strike action next month.
Members of the Teachers Union of Ireland will walk off the job for 24 hours in a row over pay parity, on Tuesday February 4th.
The government says it supports the gradual, negotiated repeal of the FEMPI legislation and that the issue of new entrant pay is a cross-sectoral issue, not just an issue for the education sector.
TUI President Seamus Lahart said that they have been trying to resolve the dispute for a long time.
''We have attempted to restore pay parity since 2011, nine years we've been at this'', he said.
He went on to say Minister Mchugh he was aware of the fact teachers would take strike action if pay parity wasn't restored.
