The Labour Court has expressed serious concern about a resolution passed by an Oireachtas committee which asked the court to "review" its recent recommendation on the teachers' pay dispute.
The Joint Committee on Education and Science sent a letter on Wednesday to the Labour Court asking it to review the decision not to recommend an "upfront payment" for teachers.
It made the request because another part of the recommendation said teachers had a "sustainable case" for a pay rise. It said that if the court reviewed its position on an upfront payment, the committee would ask the ASTI to suspend its industrial action.
In a reply received yesterday by the committee, the Labour Court chairman, Mr Finbarr Flood, expressed concern about the request. He said the recommendation, in this fashion, could undermine the court's independence.
It is understood the court is unhappy with the resolution and regards it as an attempt to interfere in its functions.
Meanwhile, the ASTI is expected to reply shortly to the Taoiseach's letter of Wednesday, and will again call on him to directly negotiate with the union. Mr Ahern has ruled this out, although the ASTI are hoping he may change his mind in the run-up to the exams.
The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, is currently in Malaysia and will return early next week. The Government is not expected to make any changes in its policy for the moment and its focus is on developing its contingency plan for exams.
The ASTI standing committee meets next Thursday to decide its next move. One issue which has divided many of its members is whether to picket exam centres this summer when non-teachers are expected to be working as supervisors.
Many members of the committee are planning to do this but the leadership may resist the idea. The union emphasised yesterday no official decision has been made on picketing.