Lecturers could strike if job security is threatened

COLLEGE lecturers may go on strike if Education Minister Mary Hanafin removes the job security currently available to them when she legislates for changed third-level funding structures later this year.

The minister is preparing a bill, likely to be enacted later this year, that would move the institutes of technology under the direct funding and governance of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) along with the universities.

Under existing legislation governing the institutes, staff have the right to a sworn public inquiry set up by the minister before being dismissed. But it is feared that, while this will be maintained for current employees, the same protection will not be available to those employed after the act is passed.