The Taoiseach has told the Cabinet that he will not intervene in the secondary teachers dispute. A call for his intervention in the four months old pay row had been made by the ASTI general secretary, Charlie Lennon, in a letter to Mr Ahern. However, the Taoiseach told his ministers that, while he would be replying to the letter in the next 48 hours, it was not his intention to intervene. He said that the Labour Court had made the teachers’ argument for them in terms of their pay claim if they were to go into the bench-marking process. He also said that he had been surprised that the teachers had not been given an opportunity by their union to give a verdict on the Court's recommendation.
Earlier the Minister for Education hit out at those he claims are trying to "subvert" this year's Leaving Certificate exams. Dr Woods repeated that the exams would go ahead. The Cabinet has endorsed contingency plans to ensure that the Leaving and Junior Certificate examinations will be held. In a statement, the Government voiced its concern that the terms of the Labour Court recommendation were not put to a ballot of secondary teachers who are members of the ASTI.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland is to ballot its members on whether or not to take part in the Government's contingency plan for the Leaving Certificate exams. TUI President, John MacGabhann, said that the union would have serious concerns about the integrity of the exams, if members of the public were to be asked to supervise them.
The Association of Secondary Teachers is due to resume strike action tomorrow. The Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, yesterday ruled out the possibility of the Government making any gesture outside the Labour Court recommendations to settle the dispute.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education has called on the Labour Court to review its decision not to give teachers an interim pay award. A motion, which also called on the ASTI to call off industrial action pending a Labour Court ruling, was passed unanimously at a meeting of the Committee this afternoon.
