Hugh Rance, a seasoned flute instructor at Bantry, associated with the Cork Education and Training Board School of Music, alleges that the state-funded institution of music has been frivolously washing away the public’s money on paying him, along with his colleagues, for classes with no student enrolments. He further claimed that he has been victimised by the education and training board by not entrusting him with fresh students and intimidating him with disciplinary sanctions for uncovering this issue.
During the Workplace Relations Commission meeting on Monday, Rance avowed that he, along with a cluster of his peers, had been compensated for an extensive number of tutors’ hours without student engagement for the preceding five years. He argued that this predicament has been steadily escalating since 2011, ever since the obligation of registering fresh students shifted to the administrative office of Cork ETB School of Music from the music teachers.
Rance calculated his vacant teaching hours at a shocking 63 per cent, causing a state’s expense of around €50,000 annually – a fact that he identified as an extravagant and inappropriate usage of public capital and a serious misdirection of resources.
After discussing this with his fellow teachers in October 2023, he revealed that 18 teachers had experienced excessive idle hours for several years – with their rates of unutilised teaching hours varying between 35 to a staggering 70 per cent in one instance.
Rance recalled how he optimistically assumed the matter would be addressed by the Cork ETB’s upper management and that its CEO Denis Leamy would show interest in resolving the situation. He has refuted claims that suggest he holds a personal grudge against the school’s head, Carol Daly, and maintains that his objective is to get the school back up and running efficiently.
The court considered that Rance made several attempts to bring this matter to the notice of the Cork ETB management, including Denis Leamy, referring to unclaimed hours and other concerns in September and October 2023. However, the ETB denies these allegations, saying they don’t constitute secured disclosures, and refutes any accusations of victimisation.
Mr. Rance claimed that other music instructors were given new pupils and aided in attracting more after he disclosed protected information, alleging that no new students were assigned to him. He contended that this was tantamount to bias due to his protected disclosures.
He also claimed that he was subjected to harassment from Denis Leamy, the chief executive of Cork ETB, as a result of a series of letters critiquing his protected disclosures and issue-raising efforts.
Cork ETB’s lawyer, Shane Crossan, had previously stated to the WRC that a relatively minor problem had escalated significantly. Crossan mentioned that there were some initial complications in September 2023 with a new cloud-based system for student assignment that required music teachers to regularly check online for new student assignments.
Rance missed a class with a new student in September that year, triggering a disagreement on whether the timetable was updated or Rance failed to look at it. The tribunal heard that Rance had written a letter to the school’s head after missing the class, stating the new student assignment system was not in compliance with the Employment Terms Information Act 1994’s amendment because it didn’t provide 24 hours’ notice for working hours changes.
This was the basis for a secondary grievance Rance filed under the legislation, which Cork ETB disputes, arguing that Rance is contracted to work a fixed schedule.
Evidence will be presented by Cork ETB at a later stage in the proceedings.
The case was postponed by adjudicator Patsy Doyle and Rance’s cross-examination on the 2014 Protected Disclosures Act penalisation claim is expected to happen later.