“Irish universities and academic staff have consistently delivered above-average outcomes for students, despite diminishing resources. Mr Hennessy now wishes to fix what isn’t broken by imposing new and potentially damaging HR changes on top of ongoing staffing and wage cuts, at a time when ever-more students are enrolling at third-level. He should preferably reacquaint himself with the facts on higher education in Ireland before issuing such cavalier and unhelpful comments in future”, Mr Jennings said.

The IFUT Media Release is available here.

Up to 4,000 young and gifted Researchers are being placed in constant insecurity and encouraged to think of their jobs as transitory and short-term, with little recognition, poor pay and no thanks or loyalty from their employers, Mr Jennings states.

“The new university policy, which stipulates that all new employment be on a fixed-term or fixed-purpose contract, is a direct challenge to Irish law and to the European Directive and Framework Agreement upon which that law is based.

“It is being introduced by universities, at the behest of the HEA, while these very same institutions call for greater commitment to research, ask our children to pursue careers in this area and issue high-minded but clearly hypocritical pronouncements about the need for a ‘smart economy’”, , Mr Jennings says.

The IFUT Media Release is available here.

Discussing the third-level education sector, Kieran Mulvey – who was appointed the first General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers in 1975, when he was aged 24 – said: “I believe we have always placed a tremendous value on the provision of education in this country. I am not an advocate of the introduction of multinational business practices within third-level education, nor do I believe in the Professor Ed Walsh school of “edunomics” or the creation of “management clusters” around University Presidents. I believe that performance and achievement indicators are necessary and that the highest benchmarks are to be achieved. Third-level institutions are seen as centres of excellence and indeed privilege at times. They must continue to deliver on the public expectations of them.

“Irish society, its political system and its institutions of Government need reform. We have to get it into our collective national psyche that we are not down and out internationally” said Kieran Mulvey. “Amidst the potential collapse of trust, respect and confidence in what was generally accepted as the pillars of society, Irish society is seeking to establish new standards, new values and more enduring moral political and financial benchmarks.

“Of concern for those of us who operate in the public service milieu is the abject and almost complete failure of the “light” regulation model, deficiencies in corporate governance standards and the lack of appropriate oversight in some state institutions. We need to see more transparent and effective action by the Office of Corporate Enforcement, disciplinary action by the professional bodies and the disbarment from directorships by those who corporately approved, signed off, or oversaw and supposedly-regulated corporate and financial failures.

“A real and thorough cleansing of the Augean stables is necessary. In this recession we can change from a society of greed, the accumulation of property and wealth and a culture of ‘me-féinism’ to a more-inclusive and less-vacuous society, with more redeemable, tangible and shared values. The one change I would advocate is the constitutional right of the people themselves to periodically vote on matters of national interest/policy in order to inform the legislature of the will of the people. It works in other well-established jurisdictions – most notably Switzerland.”

The IFUT Press Release is available in full here. Kieran Mulvey’s speech is available in full here.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform recently published a National Action Plan setting out the measures that have already been undertaken to prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute offenders. It identifies areas which require further action and sets out the structures which, when fully in place, will allow Ireland to ratify the international instruments dealing with trafficking in human beings.

In October 2008, a campaign was undertaken to raise the awareness of the public and professionals to the crime of human trafficking. The campaign is based on the ‘blue blindfold’ concept, which has as its message “Don’t Close your Eyes to Human Trafficking”. The campaign includes media advertisements, the issue of posters and leaflets to a large range of organisations including An Garda Síochána, Hospitals, Health Centres, libraries, airports and ports, Governmental Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), etc. A website was also set up which gives details on what is human trafficking, the difference between human trafficking and smuggling, the policing of human trafficking, international co-operation and other newsworthy events. The website can be accessed at http://www.blueblindfold.gov.ie.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in the Department has recently produced an article on human trafficking, Human Trafficking from the perspective of the Child, available here.

As part of the Department’s ongoing effort to raise awareness of human trafficking, they are keen to explore the possibility of increasing awareness among IFUT members who may encounter suspected victims of human trafficking, especially children. To pursue this further, members are invited to contact:

Gerardine Coyle
Anti-Human Trafficking Unit
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Pinebrook House
72-74 Harcourt Street
Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 602 8233
E-mail: GMCoyle@justice.ie

“The announcement occurred without due consultation and with a total lack of regard for the concerns of NUI staff, graduates and current students”, Mr Jennings said. “No assessment has been carried out on the impact the proposed abolition will have on the national and international status of NUI degrees and courses. This is all the more unacceptable given that the Minister has pre-empted the work of the Higher Education Strategy Group.”

Mr Jennings has called on the Minister, at a minimum, to enter into consultations with all stakeholders to clarify and resolve the issues outlined above before proceeding further with his proposal.

The IFUT Press Release is available here.

The seven university presidents have also been considering a court challenge against the new Employment Control Framework which some maintain runs counter to the 1997 Universities Act, guaranteeing their independence.

While university presidents are cautious about a legal challenge, IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said the new stipulation which allows colleges to engage academic staff largely on fixed-term contracts is a clear breach of European employment law.

The article published in The Irish Times of 7 September 2009 is available here and here.

It is calling on the Commission to investigate Ireland’s non-compliance with the fixed term workers directive, and Fixed Term Workers Act, 2003, the statute examined by the Labour Court in the run-up to its decision.

The 2003 Act provides protection to employees in the form of accrued rights, culminating after a set period, in the right to a contract of indefinite duration. However, exemptions on “objective grounds” are provided for.

In February 2009, the Court overturned a ruling by a Rights Commissioner in favour of the academic, Ann Buckley, awarding her a contract of indefinite duration, together with €5000 in compensation.

The full article from Industrial Relations News (Issue 31, 2 September 2009) is available here.

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.