Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who the House will appreciate is in Brussels today. I thank Deputy Kirk for raising this issue, which is I know of great concern to the individuals involved and their families.

I understand that the teachers' dispute with the International School of the Martyrs, ISM, in Tripoli has been ongoing for some two years now. At issue is a sum of €142,000 in unpaid salaries owed to 17 Irish nationals who were employed as teachers by the ISM in Tripoli, Libya. Deputies will, of course, be aware that the ISM is the only educational institution outside of Ireland which offers the leaving certificate to its students, as Deputy Kirk correctly stated. The teachers in question were employed directly by the ISM to teach the leaving certificate. The unpaid salaries date back to the early months of 2011 when, due to the popular uprising and large-scale conflict which erupted in Libya at that time, the individuals concerned were either required to leave Libya or were unable to return there to complete their contracts for reasons of personal security.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was only made aware of this issue of unpaid salaries in early May. Officials in the Department have discussed the matter with relevant officials in both the Department of Education and Skills and the State Examinations Commission. I understand that the State Examinations Commission has already intervened directly with ISM some weeks ago requesting that the issue be resolved and that any sums outstanding to the teachers concerned be paid immediately and in full. Ongoing contact at official level on the issue is being maintained between the two bodies. It is obviously for the Department of Education and Skills and for the State Examinations Commission to set out their own position on this matter. From the perspective of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, however, the sole concern and reason for involvement has been to offer any assistance to help achieve a resolution to this contractual dispute between 17 Irish nationals and the privately owned and operated International School of the Martyrs in Tripoli.

At the Tánaiste's direction, the Irish Embassy in Rome, which is also accredited to Libya, has now made direct representations to both the ISM and to the Libyan Government on this matter. We have formally requested the assistance of the Libyan Foreign Ministry to ensure the outstanding contractual obligations and money owed to the Irish teachers by the ISM are fully met and paid. Officials in the embassy in Rome have also spoken with the principal of the ISM and urged that this matter be resolved as speedily as possible and the outstanding moneys paid. The ISM, for its part, has suggested that there are technical difficulties which prevent it at present from transferring the amounts owed and paying the teachers. I understand that these difficulties relate to the much more stringent controls on large financial transfers which now apply in Libya since the fall of the Gadaffi regime.

The Tánaiste and the Government remain anxious that this issue be resolved as soon as possible and that the outstanding salaries be paid. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the embassy in Rome will continue its efforts to secure the assistance of the Libyan authorities and of the ISM in resolving this matter. Libya is a country with which Ireland has traditionally enjoyed excellent bilateral relations. There are strong historical and cultural links between the two countries and many Libyans have chosen to make Ireland their home and have made an important contribution to Irish society. The Government remains strongly committed to developing our bilateral relations even further and to promoting greater co-operation in areas of mutual interest. It is important to recall this context in considering this particular issue and the current efforts to resolve it.

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