Institutes of Technology.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2009

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Questions (216)

Charles Flanagan

Question:

216 Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Science, further to Parliamentary Question No. 404 of 20 May 2008, the number of complaints, both formal and informal, in respect of bullying, harassment and intimidation which have been lodged to date with the human resources section of a college (details supplied) each year since 1 January 2000; the number of persons who have lodged complaints of bullying, harassment or intimidation, both formal and informal, broken down by year; the expenditure on investigating such complaints, broken down by year; and the cost to date of such investigations to include the expenditure on legal fees in respect of dealing with such complaints, or defending the educational institution against litigation brought. [5354/09]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe)

The Institutes of Technology are statutory bodies established under the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006. Under the terms of these Acts, the governance and day-to-day management of the Institutes, including procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying and harassment, are matters for which the Governing Bodies and the Management of the Institutes are responsible.

All Institutes of Technology have in place formal procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying and harassment which provide for investigation of such matters by a third party. These procedures have been endorsed by the Governing Bodies of the Institutes and neither I nor my Department have any role in relation to such matters.