Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Peter Morrison/AP
LIVE BLOG

Government's recruitment policy for researchers is illegal, lecturers' union says

The Irish Federation of University Teachers says rules that require new roles to be time-limited breaches employee rights.

THE GOVERNMENT’S POLICY on the recruitment of new university researchers is illegal, the trade union representing university lecturers has claimed.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers says the new rules – which say that people appointed to new research roles can only be appointed for specific periods of time – is a breach of the rights of those who gain employment.

The union’s general secretary Mike Jennings told IFUT’s annual conference that the policy meant that as many as 4,000 researchers were being denied any job security, RTÉ News reports.

Not only that, Jennings said, but the practice was in breach of Irish employment law, as well as European Union employment directives.

Read more on IFUT’s conference at RTÉ News >