Quinn set for cool reception at TUI conference

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn is set to receive a frosty reception from delegates at theTeachers Union of Ireland (TUI) conference today.

Ruairi Quinn will address the second- and third-level teachers' congress in Wexford this afternoon, following the TUI's warning of industrial action if there are further cuts to pay or allowances.

Meanwhile the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) conferences are also continuing today in Killarney and Cork.

Yesterday the Minister was jeered, heckled and laughed at by delegates attending the INTO and ASTI meetings over recent cuts and threatened cuts to teachers' salaries and the education system.

TUI President Bernie Ruane said the members of her union will also be making their anger clear to Minister Quinn.

"They will greet the Minister fairly coolly but at the same time I believe our delegates want to hear what the Minister has to say," she said.

Ms Ruane said the Government needs to increase spending on education rather than reducing the budget:

"We will really be saying to the Minister that investment in education is the way forward," she said.