In her address to TUI’s Congress, President Bernie Ruane today warned that “as trade unionists we may have taken a battering but we warn the new government that any future efforts to damage education and educators will be done at their peril.”
All spending on education should be looked at as capital spending, she said, and a first class education system “cannot be delivered on a shoestring.”
Ms Ruane said that the future will demand changes from teachers and lecturers but that investment must be maximised to help students achieve their maximum potential.
TUI’s annual congress is taking place at the Brandon Hotel, Tralee, Co Kerry.
‘Now is not the time to wallow in despair’
What concerns the people of Ireland now is where in the cycle we are: on the way up with hope in our hearts for better times to come, or still on the way down, waiting for the sudden splat. Now is not the time to wallow in despair. We should unite together to provide hope and an excellent education service which will have equality of access and opportunity for future generations of Irish people.
Education system and educators cannot be betrayed again
Let us as a union not fall into the old trap of divide and conquer, as advocated by Napoleon and latterly by Margaret Thatcher, and we know what she did to trade unions and whole communities in Britain. Let us stand together now: strong and united and face the future with confidence and with a determination to ensure that no future government can betray our education system nor our educators again. It is time now to cry halt, to state there is a line in the sand that states ‘this far you have gone but no further’. As trade unionists we may have taken a battering but we would warn the new government that any future efforts to damage education and educators will be done at their peril. We are far from dead or gone away. Be warned that if our system is cut again it will be done at the peril of this new government and we will not go gently into that good night.
Investment in education pays the biggest dividends
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Education - The Way Forward’. Education cannot move forward without investment. Investment in education pays the biggest dividends. You cannot deliver a first-class education system on a shoestring. Employment control frameworks take some beating for sheer lunacy. They are designed and supported by neo- liberal ideologues who do not care what havoc and misery the implementation of these will cause to our third level education system and to society as a whole. TUI will not be complicit in the lies of these neo- liberals that such cuts can be made without affecting the quality of our system. TUI does not share their cynicism that the poor will always be with us we will continue to advocate for our students and will make no apology for doing so TUI will always fight for an equal and just society. Our students will not pay for the excesses of the banks. Let the law be changed to take the money off these inept bankers. We should not pay their bonuses and pensions - there was no problem in changing it to take our hard honestly earned salaries and pensions
The Department of Finance needs to change the way it looks at education. All spending in the sector should be regarded as capital spending and investment in the future of our country.
Croke Park Agreement
If the government reneges on its side of the bargain, all bets are off and we will not keep our side.
Current priorities
Our priorities now should be to protect what we have, and to continue to fight for:
• A lifting of the moratorium on posts of responsibility.
• A properly funded and resourced further education sector.
• Protection of pensions for retired members.
• Protection for new members entering the profession.
• TUI must insist that newly qualified teachers are treated fairly as regards pay and pensions, otherwise we will not attract the best in our profession.
• The full implementation of the Labour Court finding on Claim no LCR18366
• We must fight for the protection for our fixed term workers and their contracts
• We must fight for proper funding for our institutes of technology
• We must fight for our apprentices
• We must insist that there is an investment in education until it reaches 7% of GDP.
‘We are up for this challenge’
The future will demand very many changes from teachers and lecturers so that we can continue to produce a top quality workforce. We are up for this challenge. We cannot however compete with other countries if the government continues to deny us the resources which are essential to help students achieve their maximum potential. Prior to the recession, Ireland was third last for investment in education according to the OECD. Damningly, in 2005 when the country was supposedly awash with money, investment in education was at the bottom of the pile. With such a cynical attitude to education, is it any wonder that the country is in crisis?