Lecturers threaten industrial action over colleges merger

Lecturers are threatening industrial action over concerns about the planned merger of institutes of technology in Cork and Tralee for a university application.

After international experts recommended a speed-up in the merger process, which the two colleges had proposed would not happen until August 2016, it is understood management at both colleges will discuss the possibility in the coming weeks.

The recommendation was made as part of the latest stage of the process in which Cork Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Tralee hope to form the Munster Technological University (TU).

But academic staff at both colleges say they have no confidence in any level of the process, last December’s report by the panel of international experts, or the Government’s financial commitment. In a joint statement, adopted unanimously by their members, officers of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland branches in Cork and Tralee also criticised the local engagement process.

The branch committees say they remain unconvinced of some aspects of the Technological University Bill, a draft of which was circulated almost a year ago. They have specific concerns about the requirement that two or more institutes of technology merge before applying for TU status, which was set out in Higher Education Authority (HEA) criteria for the TU designation process in 2012.

“If our concerns are not addressed in a meaningful way, there will be a ballot for non-co-operation, including industrial action,” the branches said.

A spokesperson for the Munster TU project told the Irish Examiner last month it was intended to stick broadly to the timeframe for an August 2016 merger, as set out in last summer’s submission to the expert panel.

Lecturers have also raised concerns about proposed rationalisation, which they claim will reduce course provision in both CIT and ITT, and about the local process of engagement.

“It is possible that the merged entity may be refused technological university designation by the HEA and remain as a merged entity indefinitely without gaining any of the envisaged benefits of TU status,” a union spokesperson said.

The Munster TU spokesman said there have been multiple formal consultation forums with staff and students since January 2012, and a number of dedicated forums with the Teachers’ Union and other unions as part of the process.

“We will continue to engage meaningfully with all our stakeholders and work together with them towards this goal [of TU designation],” he said.

Sinn Féin education spokesman Jonathan O’Brien is seeking to raise the issue in the Dáil with Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan today. He said charging ahead with changes to education policy, without paying heed to the concerns of those expected to deliver the changes, is a hallmark of the Government.

Three institutes of technology in Dublin are expected to finalise a merger soon, having also been backed by the international panel in December to move to the final TU application stage.