Ninth Level Ireland

“The Department of Public Expenditure has said it will consider ‘in due course’ whether thousands of teachers who are scheduled to go on strike next month will face financial penalties. About 19,000 members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) are to stage a one-day stoppage on February 4th, which is likely to lead to the closure of hundreds of second-level schools …” (more)

[Martin Wall and Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 20 January]

“The number of staff in the public service could rise by nearly 25% to over 410,000 and the Exchequer’s wage bill could grow to €24 billion per year under various Government employment models and projections. A Department of Public Expenditure spending review published on Tuesday says there is a strong correlation between overall population growth and public service numbers …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 8 October]

“IFUT have been receiving queries regarding the extension of the compulsory retirement age to 70, as a result of the Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Act 2018, which came into effect from 26 December 2018. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) has prepared the following FAQs which cover issues that have been arising since the enactment of the legislation, which members may find useful …” (more)

[IFUT, 7 February]

“Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding the 1% increase for public sector employees and in public service pensions which has not come in effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 30 January]

“Concerns were raised that 45 new academic women-only posts could be seen as ‘positive discrimination’ in correspondence between government departments. The Department of Education had been seeking advice about the legality of creating professorship posts that would be open just to women …” (more)

[Ken Foxe, Irish Times, 21 January]

“Two executives at a University of Limerick subsidiary company were added to the university’s State-funded pension scheme at a cost of more than €1.2 million even though they were not university employees. The finding is contained in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General into the handling of remuneration for certain senior staff at UL and Institute of Technology Sligo …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 27 November]

“Meeting this week in Dublin, the presidents of the ASTI, INTO and TUI denounced the delay in reaching agreement in the ongoing talks with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The talks, aimed at bringing an end to pay inequality for those who entered the profession since 1st January 2011, began following a historic three-union congress motion to undertake a joint campaign …” (more)

[INTO, 5 September]

“The cost of public service pensions will rise sharply in the coming years, increasing by €2 billion by 2025, while the level of pension contribution from public servants will remain steady. An analysis by the Department of Public Expenditure has found that the cost of public sector pensions to the exchequer will rise from €3.4 billion last year to €5.3 billion by 2025 …” (more)

[Pat Leahy, Irish Times, 19 July]

“It would cost €200m to restore equal pay for over 60,000 public servants recruited since 2011 on lower terms and conditions, according to a new report published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. During the economic crisis, the Government unilaterally cut pay rates for new recruits by 10%, as well as reducing allowances, and introducing a new pension scheme viewed as less generous than the existing scheme applicable up to then …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 16 March]

“The Government should consider a scheme to provide several thousand euro annually to medical students to meet living expenses in return for a commitment to work in the Irish health service on graduation, officials in the Department of Public Expenditure have proposed …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 30 August]

“An increase in student fees of €1,000 would be insufficient to solve the funding gap in the higher education sector, and an even greater fee increase is needed, according to a paper prepared by officials at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform …” (more)

[Chris McMahon, University Times, 28 May]

“Minister we welcome you and your officials to our Congress. This is your first TUI Congress as Minister and it is my first TUI Congress as President, so we have one thing in common. However, while our welcome is sincere it occurs in very difficult circumstances …” (more)

[Teachers’ Union of Ireland, 8 April]

“Unions tried to get a clawback of the public sector pension levy this year – worth €17m in total – but were refused, new documents reveal …” (more)

[Anne-Marie Walsh, Independent, 12 January]

“Trinity College Dublin could face a significant cut in Government funding as a penalty for the non-implementation of a Labour Court ruling that is binding under the Croke Park agreement …” (more)

[Seán Flynn and Martin Wall, Irish Times, 1 September]

[The Blogmeister writes: The assumptions here are rather ominous – it’s true that the current legislation doesn’t allow universities to be fined for conduct the minister happens to disapprove of, but is that now being seen as a ‘loophole’, rather than as a pre-condition of university autonomy?]