Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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451. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he plans to take to address the situation regarding the hiring of academic staff on a temporary or casual basis in universities and the resulting precarious working conditions for the staff involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22925/21]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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452. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of academic staff on non-permanent contracts in public institutes of higher education in each year since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22926/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 451 and 452 together.

In line with the Universities Act, 1997, third-level institutions have autonomy in relation to human resource policies, subject to compliance with Government policy in respect of employment numbers and pay policy. Employers in the higher education sector are also required to operate in accordance with the provisions of national industrial relations agreements. In the event that a union has specific concerns regarding work and contract conditions among staff in any third level institution, that union can seek to have the matter addressed using the dispute resolution procedures provided for in the Haddington Road Agreement, and any individuals who have issues of dispute have a variety of dispute resolution options open to them. The HEA has collated data from the sector on the numbers of occasional hourly paid administrative, teaching and support staff and the Department will be engaging shortly with the HEA as regards next steps in this regard.