Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 728: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the service required to qualify for a contract of indefinite duration as a post-primary school teacher; if she will allow an appeal mechanism particularly to teachers with long service in a school who may not have worked the required number of hours in the past fours years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10137/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Discussions on the implementation of the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act 2003 are ongoing at national level with the assistance of a facilitator. The discussions involve representatives from the Departments of Education and Science and Finance, the managerial authorities of schools and the teacher unions.

In the context of those discussions a transitional agreement has been reached which provides that:

those fixed term employees with more than 4 years successive teaching service as at 1st September, 2005 and who are deemed to be qualified shall receive contracts of indefinite duration unless the employer can demonstrate: That a post will not be viable within a reasonable period and where such a ground was set out as an objective ground in writing in the previous contract. Or That the person is covering for a post holder on an approved scheme of leave of absence. The foregoing exclusions shall not apply where the person has not received a written contract setting out objective grounds since September 2001. Such persons (who are deemed to be qualified) shall automatically receive contracts of indefinite duration.

The agreement provides that any individual who is not issued with a contract of indefinite duration or is dissatisfied with the terms of the contract issued shall have a right of appeal to an agreed adjudication process. An adjudicator, nominated by agreement between the official side and the teacher unions, will be appointed shortly. The adjudicator will hear submissions from both parties and, unless the matter is settled, shall issue a written determination within 14 days of the conclusion of the hearing.

Either party shall have the right to reject the determination of the adjudicator in which case, the determination will be set aside and will not be cited or revisited by either side in any statutory proceedings brought by the aggrieved individual. The aggrieved individual still has the right to prosecute a grievance through the mechanisms provided for in the legislation in the form of a complaint to a rights commissioner.