Vol. 505 No. 6
272 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that industrial action by the TUI will cause serious delays in the issuing of exam results to students in Carlow Regional Technical College; the action, if any, he will take to resolve the dispute; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14489/99]
282 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the serious consequences for students attending the Institute of Technology, Carlow, if the dispute between the TUI branch and the college management is not resolved; and if he will intervene in this dispute to ensure the students exam results are not affected in any way. [14550/99]
285 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the severe disruption caused to students by the dispute between the TUI and the management of the Institute of Technology, Carlow; if his Department will make a renewed effort to facilitate a resolution of the dispute; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14555/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 272, 282 and 285 together.
A dispute arose in Carlow Institute of Technology in relation to a contract of a part-time member of the academic staff. The dispute lead to the imposition of an overtime ban by the Teachers Unions of Ireland.
This action was suspended to allow further talks to take place between the institute management and the TUI. These discussions were chaired by an official from my Department who put forward proposals for consideration by both sides. The TUI is unhappy with some aspects of the proposals and have indicated to the institute that they are to resume the overtime ban and have also decided to escalate industrial action by withholding examination results until 18 June 1999.
On my Department's request, the TUI agreed to defer any further action for one week to allow further examination of the proposals. My Department is still involved in discussions with both parties in an effort to resolve this matter.
