asked the Minister for Labour whether he proposes to refer the present dispute in the Dublin VEC Colleges to the Labour Court under section 24 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946.

Officers of vocational education committees are not "workers" for the purposes of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1976. In the circumstances I do not propose to refer the dispute in question to the Labour Court. I have already advised the parties involved to this effect.