Irish Federation of University Teachers » Institutes of Technology

TUI and IFUT dismiss ESRI research as ‘patently flawed’

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:22:12 +0000

In a joint statement today, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) rejected as ‘misleading’ and ‘flawed’ the findings of an ESRI survey on a pay differential between public and private higher education staff.

The latest ESRI figures on a public and private pay differential between higher education staff are extremely misleading and yet again mischievously add to the drip-feed of misinformation supporting a patently flawed agenda. By failing to compare like with like, this piece of research is essentially redundant.

TUI General Secretary, Peter MacMenamin, said:
“To attempt to compare these completely different forms of employment is a pointless exercise that adds nothing but unhelpful clutter to any reasonable, intelligent public discourse.”

IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said:
“It is unusual that the two unions that represent third-level combine to take a stance like this. It illustrates the level of what we see as a complete misunderstanding of the essential characteristics of a valid and internationally respected education system.”

The Press Release issued jointly by the two unions is available in full here.

IFUT proposes unprecedented joint management-union response to education cuts

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:18:32 +0000

The General Secretary of IFUT, Mike Jennings, has called on university managements to work with IFUT and other employee representative bodies in the sector to present a strong and comprehensive response and resistance to the cuts proposed in last week’s McCarthy/An Bord Snip Nua Report.

“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.

IFUT reponse to “An Bord Snip Nua” report

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:49:43 +0000

IFUT has issued a Press Release in initial response to the report by “An Bord Snip Nua”.

“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.

“An Bord Snip Nua” Report released

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:01:48 +0000

The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, has today (16 July 2009) released the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes. The Group, popularly known as An Bord Snip Nua, which has sat for the last six months, was chaired by UCD Economist, Colm McCarthy.

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.