The Irish Congress of Trade Unions Education Sector Group has described new proposals from government on the funding of higher and further education as “a positive first step that has potential to address the many problems faced by all who work and study in the sector.”
The Congress Education Sector Group said the plan announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris TD, contained “some very welcome commitments on the need to end precarious employment, on addressing the funding deficit in the sector, on the unsustainable cost of going to college for many students and families and engagement with trade unions on implementation of the plan.”
Speaking on the publication of the new proposals, Karl Byrne, chair of the Sector Group said: “We see real potential in the plan to deliver major gains for the further and higher education sector as a whole, but a huge amount of detail needs to be worked out and we look forward to engaging on this through the Implementation Group established by the Minister.
“Trade union representatives on the Implementation Group will seek to ensure issues such as precarious work, adequate resources for upskilling and the cost of going to college for families are comprehensively addressed.
“In addition, we fully support calls to urgently address student-staff ratios through the plan and for an end to current restrictions on recruitment imposed under the Employment Control Framework (ECF),” he said.
The Congress Education Sector Group comprises a range of affiliated trade unions representing staff at all levels of the education sector, including: SIPTU, TUI, IFUT, Unite, Forsa and Connect.
