AVC - should everybody have one ?

I am a secondary school teacher and everyone automatically starts thinking of the permanent pensionable position. However, I have found that those days are gone and since entering the 'profession' at 22, these posts are hard to come by. I am now 29 and have worked for 8 school years.
I have had a fixed term contract for 4 of these years, two of them on reduced hours. My service was broken once and I have 4 years that did not involve a pension payment. Basically I worked covering sick leaves or maternity leaves and was paid a rate per hour.
For the contracted posts, the pension contribution is 5 % and I currently have a gross of just over 40k. Would it be a good idea to have an AVC?We are recommended to use Cornmarket but I recall an article in a Sunday Newspaper that said they gave very poor value for money.
I have the added problem that my service is likely to be broken again, as my fixed term contract is unlikely to be renewed. I have heard rumblings that the teacher who I am covering for is likely to return from career break. This would mean that continuous deductions from my pay would not be possible.

If you own your own home already and you think that your pension savings are insufficient to meet your retirement needs then obviously boosting these, for example through an AVC, would be a good idea. Ideally you need to choose an AVC option that is competitive on charges and offers a suitable range of funds. If you are being advised (by whom - your union I suspect?) to go with a specific provider then you should really understand the clear advantages (if any) of doing so. Cornmarket and teachers' pensions have been discussed many times in the past (e.g. see ) and I seem to recall there being serious question marks over the advice being given about going with them not least of all on the basis of the charges that they levy. If there are no limitations on where you can put your AVC savings then perhaps a competitive standard PRSA might be a better option? If in doubt get your own personal, independent, professional advice.

bos4 — when/if you get made permanent, ask about buying back pension contributions on the basis of previous 'reckonable service'. Until then, keep an open mind as to your various PRSA options, and keep records of all your previous contracts/payslips.

Cornmarket, afaik, made some money a few years back by offering a (fee-based) 'dummies'' package for new recruits in the public sector — Gardaí, teachers and nurses, essentially — whereby they would 'look after' everything from your bin charges to your pension entitlements — all for the modest sum of... (etc.). I'd say don't worry about them for the moment...

Yeah, I'm not going to go near them at this stage. Cornmarket actually came in trying to push their go between service as mortgage agents, they weren't really up to much! All fees fees fees. Thanks for sage advice!