IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said that IFUT wanted complete transparency in the payment of allowances and was critical of those allowances which were not directly linked to the performance of extra duties. However, he was clear that with regard to those “legitimate” allowances that were paid to staff for taking on additional workloads, IFUT members would not be performing such role if they were not paid the allowance.

The full article from Industrial Relations News (Issue 30, 27 August 2009) is available here.

“In view of the crisis now facing our sector, I am proposing that the Heads of Irish Universities and all those in senior management in education unite with IFUT and other employee bodies in education, to work together to defend the entire sector,” Mr Jennings said.

The IFUT Press Release is available in full here.

“This report, and, in particular, the parts of it which relate to education, will come to be regarded as one of the most short-sighted documents in Irish education history. At a time when more and more people are turning to education as an intelligent, self-enhancing alternative to unemployment, how could any group of consultants recommend a total reduction of almost seven thousand jobs in education, two thousand of them in higher education alone?”

The IFUT Press Release is available is full here.

The Press Statement announcing the release of the report is available here.

The report itself is in two volumes, Volume I and Volume II.

Access to the report on the IFUT Website is restricted to IFUT members only.

This Framework was promised in the letter of 1 April from the HEA to the President/Provost of each of the seven Universities. This letter was sent in response to a letter from the Department of Finance to the Department of Education and Science in late March. In their letter, the HEA stated that “with effect from 27 March there should be no filling of vacancies by recruitment, promotion or the payment of an allowance for the performance of duties at a higher level, except possibly in the case of academic and support posts that are considered essential to maintaining core service activities”, pending the publication of the Framework arrangements.

The HEA Employment Control Framework document shall operate from 1 July. It is available here (Members only).

The transfer of these pension funds has been under discussion for a number of years and legislation was promised in the last mini-Budget. It is IFUT’s understanding that the Government wishes to “fast-track” the bill and have it passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law before the end of June.

Messages have also been sent by the former South African Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, as well as Senator Ivana Bacik and Senator David Norris.

All of the above are either current or former members of the union.

Dr Garret FitzGerald, former Taoiseach and a member of IFUT, will address the ADC on Saturday next, 25 April. Dr Fitzgerald made history by being the first ever Taoiseach to be a paid-up member of an ICTU-affiliated trade union.

The full text of President McAleese’s message of support and further details on the ADC can be read in the IFUT Press Release, which is available here.

The member in question had twice won his appeals against his non-selection for promotion. The Appeals Committee had explicitly said that “it was unreasonable to conclude that you had not met the requirements for promotion to Associate Professor on grounds of Research and Scholarship”.

The Appeals Committee directed that this decision should be revised. They subsequently clarified this as meaning “to reverse”. The University Committee on Academic Appointments Tenure and Promotion (UCAATP) refused to abide by this directive, despite the fact that the Appeals Committee decisions are, according to university rules, “binding”.

IFUT has warmly welcomed this decision and congratulated the member concerned for his determination to stand up for his entitlements.

“By doing so he has won an important victory which will benefit many of his colleagues facing similar unfairness and obduracy”, said Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary.

The Labour Court Recommendation is LCR 19410 and was issued on 8 December 2008. More details are available here.

“Professor Tom Begley … argues for very high salaries for certain academics because that is what it takes to attract the world class. It would be a mistake to allow this viewpoint to take root in Ireland’s university sector.

“Professor Begley fails to understand that Irish universities are funded from the public purse – funding which has never been adequate. Our education system cannot afford these hugely expensive individuals – they would reduce the size of the pot for everyone else and diminish the range of activities and services we can offer. There is no evidence that these people are worth the extra money and, if they are so focused on their earning capacity, their lack of a public service ethos does nothing to reassure that they will serve the education system better.”

The President’s letter is available in full here. The version that was published in The Irish Times on 23 September is available in full here.