Vol. 475 No. 5
8 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the nature of the current work to rule by workers in the Athlone section of her Department; the degree to which the work to rule is impacting on the delivery of services and in particular on the provision of assessments for the leaving certificate applied programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5302/97]
Industrial action is being taken by members of the Public Service Executive Union in my Department. This action involves members of that union refusing to carry out work related to vacant posts and to co-operate with any new work or scheme which they deem to require additional resources.
Industrial action of this nature has the effect of slowing the flow of work to a greater or lesser extent. In the Athlone offices the principal effect has been delay in the completion of administrative processes relating to the leaving certificate applied programme.
Student achievement and performance in the leaving certificate applied is recorded in three modes; performance in final examinations, satisfactory completion of modules and performance of task work. Assessment of task work takes place at the end of each session and is undertaken by visiting examiners appointed by my Department. The examiners assess the tasks produced by the students and also interview the students regarding the processes involved. The assessment scheduled for the week commencing 3 February 1997, following the September/January session, has been postponed due to the industrial action.
A letter notifying schools and examiners of the postponement was issued to school principals and examiners on 29 January 1997. I very much regret the disruption which the necessary postponement of the assessment has caused to schools, students and examiners. Every consideration will be given to candidates to ensure that they will not be adversely affected by this postponement.
I am very conscious of the need to resolve these industrial relations problems. Every effort is being made by my Department to that end. I hope that a satisfactory outcome will be arrived at very quickly.
What has happened to the leaving certificate applied has been disgraceful. The letters of postponement went out on Thursday and the assessments were due on Monday. That is a disgraceful way to treat 3,600 students, their parents and their teachers.
Staff morale is at an all-time low in the Department of Education. I have received correspondence that states that despite the crisis last year with the examinations, nobody at the top seems prepared to sort out the real problem, which is inadequate staffing. Does the Minister accept there is an inadequate number of staff in the examinations branch? The Minister referred to a work survey of that branch in reply to a parliamentary question I tabled before Christmas. Has that been completed? We are lurching from crisis to crisis with the examinations branch in Athlone because of the lack of staff. Something will go wrong with the 1997 examinations unless the Minister moves quickly to deal with the chronic staffing inadequacies in her Department.
It is very important not to exacerbate this situation, which is causing great concern in the Department. I regret the dispute and assure the Deputy that every effort is under way to resolve the dispute. Contacts with the union are continuing and I intend to avoid further disruption. I do not want to exaggerate the effect of the action to date. Plans for new forms for eliciting information have been deferred but the old forms were available and have been posted to schools. There was some delay in the issuing of examination numbers but students do not become aware of their examination numbers until the oral examinations start.
The one practical effect of the dispute to date has been on the assessment of taskwork for the leaving certificate applied but that examination is in three sections. If, following this session, the assessment of those tasks has to be delayed, that examination's results in August are not at the brink this week or next week. There is an effect on the system but the situation would not be helped by my elaborating on that.
There seemed to be a suggestion that this dispute was not a cause of concern to me or my officials. I assure students, parents, teachers, examiners and the staff who carry the burden of maintaining confidence in the examination system that every effort is being made to effect a satisfactory outcome to this dispute. Contact with the unions is certainly ongoing.
How many additional staff have been allocated to the leaving certificate applied programme? Have any additional staff been appointed following the recent announcements on bar coding and the collection of practical material from next year's leaving certificate subjects that have a practical component? Announcements have been made but have any staff been appointed?
Without dealing with specific numbers, the number of staff in Athlone is about the same as it was last year and previous years.
