I want to raise the case of adult education tutors who will gather in large numbers outside the Dáil today at 1 p.m. For years they have been fighting for pay parity, for an end to discrimination and for proper contracts and pensions but they continue to be denied these by the Government. Effectively, the Government is trying to get away with not providing proper incremental payscales, is offering piecemeal pensions and is demanding that they do the work of administrative staff. These are teachers. They do the work of teachers, including lesson planning, preparation, teaching and marking and they deserve to be treated equivalently to their full-time, permanent colleagues. Will the Government go out and meet the tutors and will the Minister, Deputy Harris, accede to these very just requests?

I understand that a proposal was issued to staff representatives last year to establish a new grade of adult educator, with a standardised payscale aligned to Youthreach. A key issue that has been raised relates to incremental progression. The Ministers, Deputies Harris and Foley, who have regulatory responsibility for the ETB sector, have submitted an updated proposal to the Minister, Deputy Coveney. Officials are engaging on this updated proposal and hope to be able to conclude this matter at an early opportunity.