Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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157. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress being made on the implementation of the Ward report in relation to contracts of indefinite duration and general recommendations for reducing workforce casualisation in the teaching profession. [23194/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Haddington Road agreement provided for the establishment of an Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Primary and Second Level Education in Ireland. This group was chaired by Mr. Peter Ward SC, who consulted extensively with all the stakeholders and interested parties . The report was published in September 2014 and can be found on my Department's website.

The report recommended a suite of measures which will lead to more job security for fixed-term and part-time teachers. It recommended seven changes for implementation from the commencement of the 2015/16 school which my Department implemented. Circulars 23/2015 and 24/2015 detailing the arrangements and procedures for the implementation of the recommendations of the report were published on March 27 2015 and are available on my Department's website.

One of the key features of the new procedures is that the qualification period for the granting of an initial Contract of Indefinite Duration (CID) is reduced from a period of continuous employment in excess of three years with the same employer to a period of continuous employment in excess of two years.

In their deliberations the expert group considered the issue of the exclusion from qualification for a CID of a teacher who is covering for another teacher absent on an approved scheme of leave of absence. The report recommended that a teacher covering for another teacher on career break or secondment should not be disqualified from entitlement to a CID on that ground. However the group having considered the issue of teachers covering for teachers who are job-sharing concluded that these teachers should not be included in this arrangement.

My Department recently reached an agreement with INTO and TUI which includes the immediate commencement of discussions on implementation of the medium and longer term recommendations made in the Ward Report. As part of this process, appropriate measures to improve the ability to increase the working hours of part-time teachers will be considered, having regard to the curricular needs of schools and the effects of the measures being implemented in the first phase of the Ward Report recommendations.

ASTI has issued a directive to their members to withdraw from the Croke Park hours. ASTI's decision to withdraw from these hours means that the union has repudiated the Lansdowne Road Agreement. In opting to withdraw from the Lansdowne Road Agreement, ASTI members are also opting to forego a series of benefits and protections, as communicated by my Department previously. These include avoiding an increment freeze, continuation of the alleviation of the FEMPI Act 2013 pay cut for higher earners, the Supervision and Substitution payment of €796 due to be paid on 1 September and protection against compulsory redundancy. A further significant consequence of withdrawing from the Lansdowne Road Agreement will be the withdrawal of the benefits introduced for new teachers under the Ward Report, which enable them to gain permanent employment and full hours more quickly than before.

Under Circular 0045/2016 issued by Department, Circular 0024/2015 (which introduced improved CID arrangements for teachers) is withdrawn with immediate effect in respect of teachers not covered by the Lansdowne Road Agreement.