Mr. Frank Jones:

The Irish Federation of University Teachers, IFUT, is the only union in Ireland that exclusively represents workers in higher education. We represent many grades of workers, including lecturers, researchers, tutors, teaching fellows, librarians and administrators. IFUT understands quite rightly that much of the focus of this round-table discussion on mental health supports in schools and tertiary education will be framed in the context of student needs. Therefore, we will focus on issues for employees in this sector that adversely impact on their mental health.

In recent months, IFUT welcomed the opportunity to appear before the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in relation to the funding requirements of higher education. The committee published the report, The Future Funding of Higher Education, in July 2022.

In relation to today's topic, that report contains many contributions from parties who operate in this sector which are as relevant now as then. In particular, Chapter 8 "Mental Health and Well-being Supports” considered the current demands for mental health support in higher education. There is a recommendation 9 there that I am sure members of the committee are interested in.

IFUT is of the opinion that recommendation 9 adequately and succinctly addresses the core issues in the university sector which negatively impact staff, students and the quality of education and, indeed, the causes of mental health issues, namely precarious employment, the continued application of the employment control framework and the failure of staffing levels to keep pace with the expansion of student and programme numbers thereby resulting in the Irish staff-to-student ratio being one of the largest in Europe. Precarious employment and a high staff-student ratio create an unmanageable workload culture on the mental health of the people working in the sector.

A 2017 study into work-related stress within the higher education institutions, HEI, sector, the Foy report, found that unrealistic demands, lack of resources and constraints on employees lead to stressful workplaces and ultimately lead to a deterioration in mental health. The report concluded that tackling the causes of work-related stress also makes business sense as doing so leads to reduced absenteeism, higher productivity and lower employee turnover. A 2015 study which examined precarity and casualisation in the Irish education sector noted that "Many casual workers encapsulated how they felt about their situation with negative descriptors like 'depressed', 'frustrated', 'worried'’, 'despondent and hopeless', 'disillusioned', 'demoralised ...".

In an article in The Irish Timeson 12 October this year about university rankings, TCD Provost Professor Doyle states:

The poor staff-student ratio is directly related to the underfunding of the higher education sector in Ireland. It is vital that Government honours the commitment made earlier this year in 'Funding the Future' [report] and increase annual core funding by €307 million for the higher education sector in Ireland.

While university rankings are something that may appear to be arbitrary at times, the issue of student-staff ratios are a very serious matter. IFUT has concluded that there is no systematic effort being made in Ireland to act on the recommendations contained within this report.

In the workplace IFUT is responding regularly to new precarious posts and roles being created for members on fixed-term contracts for years, and even decades. Members' contracts run for nine months of the year but they are expected to mark examinations, engage with students and prepare for the next semester during their three months without pay. Many of these workers are completely invisible. They are not on staff lists, email lists or invited to staff meetings. No one truly knows the extent of the problem of precarious employment in this sector in Ireland. Figures which are gathered on headcount tend to count full-time equivalents, FTEs. In the case of part-time or hourly workers, one full-time equivalent could include ten or more real suffering workers.

The committee recommended that the staffing levels of universities "be reviewed urgently or by end of 2022 at the latest". We are fast approaching the end of 2022, but we in IFUT are not aware of any process involving any trade union for examining this issue.

IFUT members report a significant difficulty in making time to provide the pastoral care to students that they deserve and require. Students may not realise that the lecturer standing before them is on a contract for three hours per week. When a student requests a one-to-one discussion on the course content or difficulties he or she is experiencing, the student should expect support to be forthcoming. Little do students know that their lecturers might have to run off after a class to work a second or third job to make ends meet. This disastrous employment culture is bad for the employee, but also for the students they teach. The unavailability of lecturers to students will contribute to stress and anxiety for the students.

With daily demands on their time, the ability of some employees to conduct research is curtailed. This will have longer-term devastating consequences for the quality of the research and education that the institutions provide. Burnout is real among academics in higher education.

We all know that trade union-organised workplaces are safer workplaces. In higher education, though, there is a limit to what trade unions can do to impact the work environment without national policy supporting the workers in these institutions. Conversations about mental health in higher education need to look not just at the supports for workers when they experience mental health problems, but at the causes of workers' suffering in the first place. IFUT wants to be centrally involved in agreeing decent work, fair workloads and adequate staffing levels across universities and other higher education institutions. We want to be part of shaping the solution with this committee.