asked the Minister for Education whether she has satisfied herself that vocational educational committees around the country, in deciding which teachers should be offered the redundancy package, have made their decisions free from the influence of political representations or other extraneous conditions; and if she will make a statement on the steps she has taken to ensure that equity is achieved in this regard.
Written Answers. - VEC Redundancy Package.
163.
Following consultations with vocational education committees about the numbers of teachers who should be granted voluntary redundancy my Department authorised a number of committees to apply the terms of the voluntary redundancy scheme in their respective areas. The Department issued guidelines to committees regarding the selection of teachers for voluntary redundancy, but the actual selection was left to the committees themselves in accordance with their responsibilities for the overall organisation of their educational programmes. I have no reason to doubt that committees complied with those guidelines.