TEACHER'S PET:There may be trouble ahead . . . Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe will brief the the education correspondents at about 5pm tomorrow, just after Brian Lenihan unveils the Budget.
There is growing apprehension about more cuts in the €9 billion education budget – even though O’Keeffe’s room for manoeuvre is limited.
All things being equal, the Minister and his senior officials would like to increase class size and introduce college tuition fees or loans. But the Green Party has vetoed any such moves.
What else is there? Officials have been looking at the €250 million-plus that teachers receive in various allowances. But could teachers tolerate a further cut on top of the pension levy and the 5 to 6 per cent cut already under consideration?
The research budget for the universities is also being examined. The McCarthy Report was not convinced about the value of much spending in this area. But any cut would undermine all that lofty stuff about the “smart economy”.
Batt would also like to increase the €1,500 student registration charge, but any such move is certain to prompt a legal challenge on the basis that the charge should be used for student services – and not for general expenditure. So that avenue may also be closed off.
All things considered, the education sector should be protected from the worst in tomorrow’s Budget.
So why does the suspicion linger that some bad news is coming?
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The Great Joe Duffy was in ebullient form at the launch of Paul Mooney's new book, Accidental Leadership, at the National College of Ireland last week.
To cut costs, he joked, RTÉ was drafting in various celebrities for the Christmas Schedule. Brian Lenihan would present Ready Steady Cook The Books!Brian Cowen would anchor Questions and No Answers.
And, yes, Tiger Woods, was lined up for Desperate Housewives.
Mooney, the president of the NCI, is scathing about some work practices at third level in the book.
He cites the case of a lecturer who managed to hold down full-time posts in both the Athlone Institute of Technology and NUI Galway. The case, he says, highlights a culture where a low level of performance is often tolerated.
He writes: “No one will ever get fired from Intel because they are also working full-time with Hewlett Packard.” Indeed.
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Senior officials in the Department of Education are still smarting from the scathing criticism delivered by Labour’s education spokesman Ruairí Quinn during the summer.
Quinn complained to the Dáil in June about his continued failure to get detailed information from the Department about the number of primary schools owned by the Catholic Church.
“Either officials in the department are members of secret societies such as the Knights of St Columbanus and Opus Dei and have taken it upon themselves to protect the interests of these clerical orders ... or, alternatively, the Minister is politically incompetent and incapable of managing the Department of Education and Science,” Quinn said.
His comments caused a considerable furore at the time. But he is unabashed and returned to the issue in the Dáil last week.
In a further debate on school patronage, he referred, with more than a hint of sarcasm, to the Department’s speed and efficiency.
Presented with the open goal, Batt rushed in to defend his senior officials, describing them as “outstanding.”
But we hear that some senior figures in Marlborough Street are less than amused.
It should all make for interesting times if Ruairí Quinn is appointed as the next Minister for Education!
Email us, in confidence, at teacherspet@irishtimes.com
