Vol. 528 No. 1
434 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on the impact of the loss of teaching time to secondary school students as a result of the current industrial dispute involving the ASTI; if students will be at a disadvantage when sitting State examinations as against students in other schools who are not losing teaching time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29823/00]
It is a cause of concern to me that any students, and particularly those in leaving certificate year, are experiencing disruption in their education as a result of the industrial action by the ASTI. The decision by the ASTI to escalate the industrial action to include further strike days and the ban on co-operation with leaving certificate and junior certificate examinations is difficult to understand particularly when the decision came immediately at the end of a week in which the improved terms of the PPF together with the budget tax concessions were accepted by the other public service unions including the other two teacher unions.
I have written to the ASTI today outlining my views on the dispute and inviting them to meet me so that we can find a way to resolve this dispute in a mutually acceptable and satisfactory way in the interests of the students.
