Teacher's PET

Glum faces all round when university heads met Noel Dempsey last week. The college chiefs know the short-lived golden era of funding is nearing an end as the budget cuts bite.

There are even dark rumours about the future of some research funding. TP hears that the college boffins were hugely impressed by Dempsey - accompanied on this occasion by his secretary general John Dennehy.

College heads have little recent experience of meeting education ministers. Former minister Michael Woods was very difficult to pin down for meetings. One college chief said Dempsey was well on top of the brief. "Let's hope the Cabinet don't eat him up on the fees issue," he commented acidly.

What is Fine Gael's policy on school league tables? Well, it depends who you ask. Deputy leader Richard Bruton is a brilliant advocate of accountability in education. He was scathing about Micheál Martin's original plan to ban league tables. But new education spokesperson Olwyn Enright is much less outspoken and seems shy of offending the teaching unions. Result: Non-descript policy on the issue of the day.

Memo to Fine Gael: the power of the teaching unions is much more apparent than real.

On a separate issue, what is Fine Gael policy on the State paying teachers in fee-paying schools? Labour's busy Joe Costello and the excellent Barbara Johnston of the Catholic parents' group want the practice to be stopped. But where does FG stand?

TP is on alert for the start of the new Dáil session. His mission: to expose TD's who use Dáil question time for the most piffling constituency business. Questions to Noel Dempsey should be an opportunity to tease out policy and to make a stand. Memo to TD's: Give hard-pressed Department officials a break. Stop asking silly questions - especially when you already know the answer!

Bad news about Ross Higgins, deputy president of UCD students' union, who has found himself in hot water for his less than PC views. In the college's freshers' guide, he describes UCD's dull admin buildings as the place where working class students go to get their grants. This has gone down like one of Enda Kenny's bad jokes with the PC brigade. Now Ross ( is his real name actually Ross O'Carroll-Kelly of Sunday Tribune fame?) has been forced to back down and apologise. Quite right too. Everyone knows students are not middle-class, well-heeled and class ridden.

Got any education gossip?

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