Written answers
Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Department of Education and Skills
Quality and Qualifications Ireland
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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437. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the number of industrial relations cases that are ongoing in QQI at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16332/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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438. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number and type of industrial relations, bullying and personnel cases and grievances in which QQI has been involved in each year since 2012 by case type, in tabular form; the grades involved in each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16333/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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439. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to of the number of industrial relations cases and grievances that have been settled between QQI and existing or former staff since 2012; the cost of these settlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16334/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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440. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of cases involving outside mediation in which QQI has been involved in each of the years 2012 to 2017 and to date in 2018; the cost of each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16335/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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441. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of reports that have been commissioned by QQI relating to industrial relations, personnel, bullying and related matters; the cost of each; the status of the publication of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16336/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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442. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of reports that have been commissioned by his Department relating to QQI to investigate industrial relations, personnel, bullying and related matters; the cost of each; the status of the publication of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16337/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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447. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to agreements reached between current and former staff of QQI which relate to industrial relations disputes and grievances; the number of confidentiality clauses contained in these; if he will seek an explanation from the board of QQI as to the rationale for the secrecy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16342/18]
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the number of industrial relations cases QQI has been involved in since its foundation involving outside agencies, such as the Labour Court and WRC, and mediation services; the number by case type since the foundation of QQI, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16343/18]
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 437 to 442, inclusive, 447 and 448 together.
Since its establishment in 2012, QQI has been engaged in 7 cases of an industrial relations nature. Material in relation to these cases is set out in tabular form.
| Year | Case type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Joint referral to a LRC conciliation conference process by Unions representing staff re matters related to the amalgamation of FETAC, HETAC and the NQAI. | An agreement was reached on foot of this process in December 2012 and has been fully implemented. |
| 2014 | Labour Court referral by a Union representing staff regarding linkages to the Education Sector and the Staff Structure at QQI. | A Labour Court Recommendation was issued and this has been fully implemented. |
| 2014 | Referral to LRC by a Union representing a member of staff in relation to a legacy grading dispute. | The matter was heard by a rights commissioner and the matter was concluded. The concluding agreement is subject to a confidentiality clause. |
| 2016 | Personal Grievance | This matter was referred for mediation as part of QQI’s grievance procedures. As part of this process, a report was commissioned at a cost of €1,150. The matter was not resolved at mediation and a personal case was referred to the WRC where an Adjudicating Officer (AO) found in favour of the staff member in 2016. The matter was appealed to the Labour Court where the decision of the AO was upheld. The decision of the Labour Court has now been fully addressed including the payment of a settlement of €10,000. |
| 2016 | Personal Grievance | This matter was referred for mediation as part of QQI’s grievance procedures. The matter was not resolved at mediation and a formal complaint was made by the staff member via QQI’s internal procedures. The complaint was fully investigated but was not upheld. This outcome was further upheld on appeal. |
| 2016 | Referral to WRC by a Union representing a member of staff in relation to a legacy grading dispute. | The matter was initially brought to a conciliation conference at WRC in 2016. This process was unsuccessful resulting in a referral directly to the Labour Court. A Labour Court Recommendation was issued on 25 July 2016 with which QQI has complied. The recommendation included the commissioning of an independent job evaluation report which was carried out at a cost of €3,600. The matter was referred back to the WRC by the Union in January 2018 for a conciliation conference. QQI is awaiting clarification of the nature of the referral. This matter is ongoing. |
| 2017 | Referral to the WRC regarding termination of a fixed term contact. | QQI is currently awaiting the outcome of a hearing before a WRC Adjudicating Officer. This matter is ongoing. |
Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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443. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason recruitment in QQI is not carried out via the Public Appointments Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16338/18]
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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QQI engages with and consults the Public Appointments Service in relation to matters of recruitment.
QQI advertises its vacancies through the Public Jobs website for posts above those at Grade III.
QQI utilises recruitment agencies approved by the Commission for Public Service Appointments for the purposes of recruitment at Grade III. The majority of these appointments are of a temporary nature.
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