Vol. 541 No. 4
135 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which a full and final settlement has been reached in the industrial dispute between his Department and the teachers' unions; if he has satisfied himself that there are no outstanding matters likely to disrupt preparation for examinations in 2001-2002 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22975/01]
The ASTI is the only teacher union which is in dispute with my Department at present. The Labour Court issued its recommendation on the ASTI dispute on 9 March and clarified aspects if its recommendation later that month. The ASTI rejected the findings and are in the course of consulting their members on further action. One of the issues raised during the dispute was supervision and substitution. Discussions on this issue have recently been concluded with the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland on arrangements for post-primary schools and a final formal offer was put to the two unions on 28 September. The offer included the following elements: additional payment will be made to teachers already employed in the school who volunteer to undertake supervision duties during break times and immediately before and after school; additional payment will be made to teachers already employed in the school who volunteer to provide substitution cover for casual absences of colleagues on sick leave or school business; schools will be provided with funding on the basis of a requirement of 37 hours supervision and substitution per teacher; participation in these duties would be voluntary and payment will be on verified delivery of the service. Payment will be at the rate of £27 per hour inclusive of the 5.5% payable from 1 October 2001. Payments will be made twice yearly.
The TUI executive has decided to put the offer to a ballot of their members without a recommendation. The result of that ballot will be known on 26 October. The ASTI central executive rejected a recommendation from the standing committee that the "Final Offer on Supervision and Substitution" should be put to a ballot of members. The central executive also rejected the offer. The CEC decided instead to ballot their members on the withdrawal from all voluntary supervision and substitution. The motion also asks for approval that the status quo continue in relation to voluntary supervision and substitution in schools until a directive is issued pursuant to the outcome of the ballot. A ballot will take place at ASTI branch venues on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 October. The ballots will be counted on Friday 12 October. Discussions with the INTO are continuing.
