The Minister is new in the job at the Department and I ask him to intervene on behalf of lecturers in the British and Irish Modern Music, BIMM, institute. Four of those lecturers are here in the Public Gallery. They were all on the picket lines earlier. I was with them today on Thomas Street. They have been forced to take strike action and mount protests because of absolutely shameful treatment by BIMM. This is a private company but 500, or 80%, of its students are effectively students of the Technological University of Dublin, TUD. This institution is funded to provide this course in commercial modern music. The students apply through the CAO to TUD. Their degrees are ratified - I am sure that is not the right word - by TUD. The degrees are awarded by TUD. TUD has outsourced this degree course to BIMM but these 53 workers have been treated shamefully. Many of them have been working there for a decade or more and they have been told to reapply for their own jobs. There are still as many students and the work is still there but BIMM has decided to tell the workers to reapply for their own jobs and has proposed that most of them would become freelance, when they were previously employed and on conditions that are about 50% of what they were previously employed under. Some of them would be given a "yellow pack" grade of lectureship at about 50% of what they were paid before. This is a disgraceful way to treat these people who are delivering an important course in music. We are asking for an intervention with TUD to end the shameful treatment of these workers.

Sentiment score: 0.03

TUD is publicly funded. Some 80% of the students at BIMM are on courses provided by TUD. It gives €3 million in direct funding to BIMM and the SUSI grants and other moneys the students receive go to BIMM. It is public money. The Minister does have responsibility. He cannot wash his hands of this. Given his responsibility for higher education, the Minister has an interest in ensuring that every single teacher and lecturer working in higher education is treated properly and not subjected to a race to the bottom and to breaches of their employment rights. The idea that people would be forced to reapply for their own jobs and become so-called freelance having been employees for years is simply bogus self-employment. That is orchestrated, pre-meditated bogus self-employment. It should not be allowed in degree courses that are being run by TUD. The Minister cannot wash his hands of this. He has a responsibility, as does TUD, to ensure - by the way, it is in the contract with BIMM - that employment rights are respected. BIMM will not even meet IFUT and it has refused to go to the WRC. The Minister needs to crack the whip and intervene in this on behalf of the workers.

Sentiment score: 0.07

It is a TUD course.

Sentiment score: 0.00

The Minister could crack the whip with TUD as well.

Sentiment score: 0.27