Responding today to the latest part of the make-it-up-as-you-go-along economic strategic tinkering and to the Taoiseach’s pre-emptive statement on pay cuts despite the proposed National Partnership discussions, TUI General Secretary, Peter MacMenamin stated:

“The Union will not countenance any deferral of negotiated pay rises, any worsening of pension provision or pay cuts while many TUI members already face the loss of teaching jobs as a result of cutbacks to the education system. The education system has already been specifically targeted and asset-stripped. The union estimates that over 1,000 jobs will be lost at second level alone as a result of the budget cutbacks.”

“The public sector was not the cause of the current crisis and cannot assume the role of ‘whipping boy’ in the recovery process. "

“TUI rejects the focus on the public service as being the sole means of rectifying the national economic crisis. This sector has been subject to a disproportionate level of flawed and ill-considered discourse in recent days”.

“If Social Partnership is to have a role to play in the rectification of the current financial crisis then there must be a coherent overall economic plan involving all sectors of society and of the economy and where the pain and sacrifice is shared, with an emphasis on those best able to take the pain. Individual issues, such as the number of Junior Ministers, cannot be considered in isolation. Neither can Social Partnership be expected to operate with pre-emptive statements such as the latest from the Taoiseach stating his intention to axe public service pay.”

“There must be recognition of a number of factors if there is to be an overall agreement.

• TUI recognises that there is an economic crisis which requires to be addressed and which is best addressed by discussion involving all of the parties.
  
•  An economic plan involving all sectors of society and all sectors of the economy must be formulated where any necessary pain and sacrifice is shared with an emphasis on those best able to take the pain.
  
•  It is inappropriate and counter productive that measures be used which will have serious deflationary effect on the Irish economy – i.e. pay cuts and deliberately raising the levels of unemployment by layoffs.
  
• The current pay agreement cannot be unilaterally set aside by the suggested deferral of the increases agreed.
  
• There can be no consideration of a pay cut or of any worsening of the pension provision at a time when we are witnessing the destruction of the education system and the loss of teaching jobs for many of our members in both second level schools and third level colleges due to the savage education cutbacks.
  
• The public sector was not the cause of the current crisis and cannot assume the role of ‘whipping boy’ of the recovery process.
  
• Consideration must be given to the careful adjustment to the current taxation system towards a more progressive regime where the better off pay higher levels of tax for a period of time.
  
• We re-iterate our core belief that the provision of a high quality education service at all levels is essential to the shared goal of economic recovery.”

Education key to economic recovery

“The young people of today are the nation’s future and cannot be held accountable for the mistakes of past policy makers.

There must be a focus on the future in terms of investment in the education system at all levels if we are to embrace the concept of a modern knowledge or information based economy.

Similarly, up-skilling and further and adult education have never been more critical to than they will be in the coming years.

The country needs to secure an increase in the education levels of those in the system at present, a form of continuing education for those in employment and a means of providing further education to those unemployed.

The Post Leaving Certificate sector – run in the main by VECs -  is in a prime position to deliver on this necessary form of education, having the required flexibility and adaptability to respond to this need.

One overdue step we are seeking is the removal of the artificial cap on the numbers in Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses. This innovative sector responds to the particular industrial and commercial needs of the local community but has been inexplicably shackled by the Department of Education and Science.

In the field of Higher Education, Institutes of Technology have also shown the necessary speed of response to previous skills shortages and are also well placed to address the necessary up-skilling which is deemed necessary for economic recovery. The further cut announced at the end of December in the budgets for Institutes of Technology is particularly ill-conceived at this time.

An economic recession is not the time to be cutting education – education is the lifeline to our future as a nation. TUI will be making representation to the Minister for Education and Science in this regard.”