John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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544. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff who reached a financial settlement and then retired or terminated their employment and the number who paid arrears relative to their retrospective contracts or to contracts of indefinite duration from 2010 to date; if sick pay is paid to permanent part-time cleaning staff and the status of negotiations between managment and SIPTU and IMPACT relative to this issue; if management has appointed permanent health and safety officers with the necessary qualifications and if management provides adequate training in health and safety to all staff in the Cork Institute of Technology, including its Bishopstown campus and the Rubicon Centre, the Crawford Art Gallery and the National Maritime College of Ireland. [44238/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Based on information supplied to the Department by Cork Institute of Technology, the position in respect of the matters raised in the Deputy's question is as set out below.

Four employees of the Institute have received redundancy or severance payments since 2010.

Arrears payments are not an uncommon feature of payroll systems, and the Institute is no different to others in this regard. It would therefore place an unreasonable administrative burden on the Institute to ask it to account for every payroll arrears payment over a period of years. However, in that context my Department has been assured that no employees have been subjected to undue delay of payroll arrears.

The Institute has recently been engaged in discussions with trade union representatives regarding the issue of sick pay for cleaning staff who are permanent part-time employees, and those discussions have concluded with agreement reached on a mutually satisfactory basis.

The Institute has a health and safety officer who is appropriately qualified, and appropriate and relevant health and safety training is provided as needed by the Institute to all staff on an ongoing basis.