Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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391. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of the fact that the Labour Court has ruled that the jobs evaluation exercise in the Tyndall Institute, University College Cork, is over, if her Department will now do what is right and fair and pay out as per the Labour Court recommendations outstanding from 2008 (LCR20577), to the Tyndall four; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16680/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Following lengthy discussions facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) in August 2013 and February 2014, terms of reference were agreed for an internal job evaluation exercise to establish the correct rate of pay for the employees of all grades within the Tyndall National Institute. The terms of reference covered all staff in the Institute comprehended by the unions' parity claim, including those staff who were the subject of a previous Labour Court recommendation (LCR20577). The terms of reference provided for an Oversight Committee comprised of management and union representatives to monitor progress and prevent delays. An appeals process was also agreed between the parties which could be invoked following the conclusion of the evaluation exercise. Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) were appointed to conduct the exercise following a tender process. The selection was made by a joint panel made up of representatives of the employer and both unions.

It was also agreed that, following completion of the internal job evaluation exercise, the parties would engage in discussions to seek agreement on the implementation of PwC's recommendations and the outcome of the appeals process. In the event that agreement could not be reached the matter would be referred to the Labour Court and the parties would be bound by the outcome.

The PwC job evaluation report was presented to the parties in December 2014. If implemented, the report, which covers 182 employees, would provide for an average annual salary increase of about €9,000 for 115 of the staff concerned. The report found that the remaining 67 staff are on a salary higher than the relevant UCC salary by an average of about €10,000 per annum. Implementation of the report would add in excess of €1,000,000 to the University's annual pay costs.

However, in January 2015 management in UCC was informed that union members in Tyndall had rejected the report. A conciliation conference was held in the LRC in February during which the unions sought to set aside the already agreed appeals procedure. Management advised that it was adhering to the agreed appeals process brokered by the LRC. No agreement was reached and at the unions' request the issue of the appeals process was referred to the Labour Court. The Court concluded that no recommendation it might make at this time would advance the resolution of the dispute.

In the meantime SIPTU & IFUT had balloted their members for industrial action. The two unions have now formally notified the University that that there will be four days of strike action in May. The unions have confirmed that pickets will be confined to the entrance to Tyndall on the first three days but that the UCC campus will also be picketed on May 13th with the attendant risk of disruption to the conduct of examinations.

I am disappointed that SIPTU & IFUT have chosen to take industrial action instead of abiding by the agreed process for dealing with the job evaluation exercise.