Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 476: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she has received correspondence from an educational trade union (details supplied); if she has considered the resolutions passed at that conference; when will she reply to the matters raised therein; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26618/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Details of resolutions expressing the views of the Irish Federation of University Teachers' union at its Annual Delegate Conference, in relation to fixed-term contract appointments and to non-replacement of staff in the university sector arising from maternity, adoptive and sick leave, were supplied to my Department in early June. From time to time my Department receives for its information details of resolutions from unions as a matter of routine. There can be many such resolutions dealing with a wide variety of topics and views expressed by union members and it is not the policy of my Department to respond individually to them.

As the Deputy is aware, however, in the context of the non-replacement of staff in the university sector, the purpose of the Government decision to implement a recruitment and promotion moratorium is to facilitate a permanent, structural reduction in the numbers of staff serving in the public sector and is also intended to contribute significant and ongoing savings to the Exchequer. In applying this moratorium generally, teaching and research activities in the education sector have been afforded significant exemptions relative to other areas of public expenditure. Nonetheless, the Deputy will appreciate that the sector has to contribute towards reductions in overall public sector numbers.

In the area of higher education the Government decided that an employment control framework should be developed to provide for the application of the moratorium arrangements in higher education institutions. The framework is subject to continued oversight and review by the Higher Education Authority, my Department and the Department of Finance. The Government is anxious to work with publicly funded higher education institutions in achieving necessary reductions in public expenditure within the sector as an essential part of overall budgetary strategy. The employment control framework aims to enable this while providing sufficient flexibility for the protection of frontline teaching and research activities.