TEACHER'S PET:Those complaints from university teachers about the excessive pay of UCD academics could hardly have come at a worse time for university presidents.
• The unguided missile from the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) came as the presidential campaign for more university funding moved up a gear with Hugh Brady of UCD and Peter Sutherland taking to the airwaves. Within hours, IFUT rolled out the press release showing how 10 staff members at UCD pocketed over €2 million.
UCD's vice president of research, Des Fitzgerald, enjoys a €400,000-plus package, while several senior administrators also enjoy enviable packages. The IFUT scoop - masterminded by their energetic new general secretary Mike Jennings - has rocked academics out in windy Belfield. Many are now nursing a wound about their "paltry" salaries, when compared to Fitzgerald et al.
Meanwhile, repeat exam fees - for those unlucky enough to have failed - have been doubled to €200.
• It's good to see Noel Dempsey being widely tipped for more upward movement in the forthcoming reshuffle.
One columnist (Shane Ross) reckons Dempsey's no-nonsense style makes him an ideal candidate for the Finance brief.
Dempsey was unloved in Education, because of the fees fiasco and his decision to send inspectors to check on teachers in schools in the run-in to Christmas. But history will judge him warmly as a minister with real vision who identified existing problems and anticipated others.
The irony is that virtually every senior figure in education now agrees - but only since he left Marlborough Street.
• Cabinet reshuffle-watch: The latest news
Brian Cowen tells us to ignore all that reshuffle speculation - so why do we continue to hear Pat Carey's name mentioned in dispatches about the next Minister for Education?
Have you ever wondered why parents have so little say in Irish education? Compare and contrast the recent teacher union conferences and the annual meeting of the National Parents' Council (NPC) - post-primary. While more than 750 delegates attended each union conference, only 80 attended the low-key NPC affair.
Meanwhile, the NPC website remains "under construction". There are some impressive people in the NPC, but the organisation desperately needs more resources for a marketing and communications budget. Education ministers will tell you how much they value the input from the NPC - so how come it only receives crumbs from the rich man's table at Budget time? ...
