Mr. Frank Jones:

The IFUT welcomes the opportunity to take part in this discussion on a matter that is of great importance to those we represent across the sector. Our membership extends across many key levels of higher education and includes lecturers, tutors, librarians and researchers in the Republic of Ireland. While we do not represent those working in the sector in Northern Ireland, the IFUT is affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, the all-island union federation that represents workers in all areas of the economy, North and South of the border. The IFUT is affiliated to the British and Irish Group of Teacher Unions, BIGTU, as is the TUI. As such, we bring an essential perspective to this important debate.

We welcome the report on this subject produced by the committee last July and indeed the work of the rapporteur in formatting and compiling the report in such a clear and concise manner. This report has been shared with our membership and has been the subject of some discussion. The IFUT has published material on the issue of university entrance requirements as far back as the late 1970s and we note that some of the challenges we identified then remain a core part of this committee’s report. While the recent research carried out by The Irish Timesand Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South, ARINS, does not specifically investigate the differences between those living North or South of the Border, it informs us that two thirds of people in the Republic say they have no friends in Northern Ireland; more than 80 % say they have no relations there; and more than half have not travelled across the Border in the past five years. These statistics must resonate with us and point to the fact that every effort should be made at every level to ensure greater integration between all people on our island.

The significant funding crisis across further and higher education in the Republic is matched in Northern Ireland and their situation is made ever more dire by repeated calls on the Education Authority to make additional cuts in spending. Despite the significant efforts of this committee to address the key problem of funding by way of its comprehensive and commendable report entitled The Future Funding of Higher Education, those of us working in the sector can confirm that the situation remains largely unchanged. This in turn hampers all efforts to build and develop a sustainable sector that can accommodate and cater for the needs of all who work and study within it, whatever their origins. Indeed, the committee’s report on North South Student Enrolment in Tertiary Education acknowledges this fact, noting that many of the proposals outlined in the report will be contingent on putting a sustainable funding model in place for third level education. The report goes on to state that it is vitally important the investment is made without delay. Regrettably, I can advise the committee that despite the acceptance by government of the recommendations contained in the report on future funding, it is evident to us in the IFUT and the ICTU that the necessary urgency required to tackle key issues such as widespread precarity of employment across the sector has been largely absent to date. Again, we cannot hope to build a sustainable sector on the basis of widespread insecurity.

The Employment Control Framework for the Higher Education Sector 2011-2014 remains the go-to excuse to explain why vacancies are not filled properly and why short fixed-term contracts of employment are preferred over permanent contracts, even in cases where the vacancies are permanent. The persistence of what is ultimately a self-defeating policy for the sector creates a myriad of fundamental problems for all who work and study in further and higher education. Thus, student:staff ratios have not improved and currently stand at 23:1 in stark contrast to the OECD average of 15:1 and many of the staff are engaged on precarious employment contracts and paid only for the hours that they spend in front of students. Recommendation No. 9 from the future funding report points out that the employment control Framework, ECF, is completely arbitrary and needs to be abolished, yet almost one year later it remains in place. It impedes the progress of many positive initiatives undertaken across the sector, including progress on issues relating to North-South enrolment, as set out and identified by this committee.

The IFUT and the ICTU recognise and share the ambitions of this committee but feel compelled to highlight the urgency with which the issue of sustainable funding needs to be addressed as it is the root of the many problems evident in our sector and, as already noted, acts as a barrier to the progress of essential initiatives such as that being discussed here today. We look forward to continued dialogue and engagement with the committee on this issue.

I thank the committee for its attention and welcome the opportunity to discuss any points arising from this.