Seanad debates
Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Third Level Staff
11:00 am
Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming in this morning. I also wish to express my disappointment that neither the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, nor the Minister, Deputy Harris, were available to come in. The Irish Federation of University Teachers, IFUT, carried out an extensive survey of more than 550 academics, including lecturers and researchers, in third level institutions throughout the country. It found that almost one third were employed on fixed-term or hourly-paid casual contracts.The precarious nature of employment across the sector is preventing many academic staff from being able to make long-term life decisions such as securing a mortgage or starting a family. They are also struggling to pay bills and rent. The issue is affecting the morale and well-being of the staff in a very real way. One would imagine that, having studied for years to be qualified at that level of academia, a job in the academic world would be a good career choice. One would think it would be fairly stable and well-paid work. Academic staff are the cornerstone of higher education. That goes without saying. The precarious nature of the work now is having serious consequences for the standards of education in our universities because students suffer too. Precarious employment means that students are increasingly taught by lecturers who are not paid outside of class time and therefore cannot provide the pastoral care and feedback that students need to improve their work and their confidence. It makes no sense that these workers would be undervalued or treated unfairly. The education of our future generations is at risk if this bad practice is not stamped out, yet that is not happening. The fact is that thousands of employees in our universities are on involuntary and inappropriate fixed-term, part-time, casual, if-and-when and zero-hour contracts.
Other issues the study highlighted are that 61% of casual, hourly paid employees do not get paid for time between terms and have to sign on every summer and that a further 31% work only on an if-and-when basis. Academics are working on average 11 hours per week over their normal hours with no additional compensation. One third of respondents felt their employer does not treat them with dignity and respect, and all those who felt their employer does treat them with dignity and respect still had significant concerns. Time prevents me from going through the rest of the survey, but I urge the Minister of State to have a look at it.
What was particularly disappointing was the initial response from the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, who suggested that caution should be exercised in extrapolating the survey's findings across the entire sector. To be clear, the findings in the survey are entirely consistent with the previous Cush report, which was accepted by the Minister for Education in 2016. They are entirely consistent with multiple reports from the HEA and TASC and NERI statements on precarious employment. The survey is consistent with the recent OECD report on academic career precarity for early career research. While the Minister has urged caution as regards the report, it adds to the substantial body of research and work already done on this topic, all of which calls for immediate Government action, but there has been no such action. The Minister has talked the talk as regards dealing with this issue; he has actually done nothing. I will give the Minister of State a prime example. The Oireachtas joint committee on further and higher education called on the Department to carry out a complete review as regards precarity across the sector. That call was made last year, and 18 months on nothing has been done. The Minister likes to talk about how he is tackling precarity in the third level sector; he has done nothing about it. He is failing the sector and failing these employees badly, and it is incredibly frustrating and damaging to the sector.
I look forward to the Minister of State's response.
Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank Senator Gavan for raising this issue. I take this question on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, and regret that neither he nor the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, is available this morning. Like the Senator, the Minister is well aware that insecure employment can and does have a detrimental impact on individual well-being and people's ability to plan for the future, as highlighted in the recent report from IFUT. Beyond that, it is also important to acknowledge that precarity can impact higher education at a systemic level in terms of recruitment and retention of staff or the quality of the student experience. It is for these reasons that the Minister is in complete agreement with the Senator that academic precarity should be treated seriously and addressed appropriately.
It is, however, important to acknowledge that there are many different factors that can give rise to non-permanent staffing arrangements, and there are sound reasons a position may not be filled on a permanent basis. For example, occasional, hourly paid staff may be engaged as exam invigilators or for cover at short notice due to staff absence, while fixed-term contracts may be utilised for time-bound activities or those reliant on student uptake. It would simply not be appropriate to recruit such staff on a permanent basis.
Ireland's traditional universities have considerable autonomy in respect of human resource polices under the Universities Act 1997. Although the legal basis for technological universities and other institutions is somewhat different, they too still require operational freedom and flexibility if they are to deliver on their mission.It is the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Harris, and his Department to enhance, develop and reform Ireland’s tertiary education sector. The measures being taken in that respect will directly help to combat any undue reliance on precarious contracts.
Crucially, €100 million in additional funding has been secured under the Funding the Future framework. This is a significant step forward in funding higher education on a sustainable basis and will enable institutions to recruit the staff they need while helping to remove the temptation to rely on more casual arrangements for budgetary reasons.
In addition, considerable work has been undertaken to develop a revised staffing framework to replace the current employment control framework, ECF. Work is continuing on this new approach, which will better align with the realities the higher education sector now faces. Further, an uplift of some 1,500 core-funded posts under the current ECF was announced in the summer, which will allow higher education institutions to recruit more permanent staff.
Alongside these measures, the national review of state supports for PhD researchers has been completed. There has been an increase in the stipend available to researchers and a work programme reflecting the report’s recommendations is under development.
The concerns the Senator raised and that were referenced in the recent IFUT report are shared by all parties. There is no question that we need to offer pay and terms and conditions that can attract and retain quality staff and provide stable employment for individuals. It is not, therefore, the case to say that the Minister has done nothing; he has done quite an amount, in fact. I am happy that a significant programme of work is under way within the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to do just that.
Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I have to disagree with the Minister of State because this research shows very clearly that on the ground, things are not happening. On the ground, precarious employment across the third-level sector is at an all-time high. The Minister, Deputy Harris, is talking the talk but he is certainly not walking the walk in this regard.
One of the key aspects that is missing is collective bargaining with the employer body, namely, the Irish Universities Association, IUA. What the Minister needs to do is instigate that immediately. We need tripartite bargaining between the union, IFUT, the IUA and Department because when they talk to universities, the message they are getting back constantly is that it is the Department that is blocking progress in enabling universities to take on people on a permanent basis. This situation is not just unsatisfactory; it is entirely unacceptable. Four years into this Government, the level of precarity is worse than it is ever been. We need and must see the Government do better.
Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I will take the opportunity to highlight that the IUA has been very clear that universities are committed to providing stable and fulfilling careers for staff and strongly rejects any suggestion whatsoever that deliberate attempts were being made to circumvent employment legislation. As I have spoken about measures taken by the Department to address precarity through increased funding and staffing, reform of the ECF and supports for researchers, it should, therefore, be clear that this Government shares the concerns around precarious working and its implications at individual and institutional level. This is a multifaceted question and there is not one simple answer to the variety of issues and circumstances that have been referenced today. There is more work to do in defining exactly who and what we mean by precarious working and these conversations will need to be underpinned by accurate data that all parties can better understand and agree in the challenge we are trying to address. Again, I will take back the Senator's concerns to the Minister, Deputy Harris, and they are noted. However, significant work has been done by Government and by the Minister to try to these issues.