Civil servants in the Department of Education and Science are refusing to fully answer parliamentary questions as part of industrial action over staffing levels.
The civil servants are executive officer and higher executive officer grade, and the industrial action has been continuing for several weeks.
A number of TDs were given written answers to questions last week which contained basic information but then said no further information could be provided because of industrial action within the Department.
According to sources, the civil servants have been unhappy for some time with the numbers of staff allocated to important areas.
Their trade union, the Public Services Executive Union, has been negotiating with the Department, and the talks are described as being at a "sensitive stage".
A Department of Education and Science spokeswoman confirmed that answers to certain parliamentary questions had been affected by the dispute. But she said the Department was confident the situation could be resolved shortly. It is understood the Department of Finance has agreed that extra staff can be taken on, but it is not certain at this stage if the numbers are sufficient to end the industrial action.
A meeting is scheduled on the issue shortly.
One of the TDs whose questions were not fully answered was Mrs Nora Owen of Fine Gael.
She submitted four questions concerning schools in her constituency, all of which said detailed information relating to her query could not be given because of industrial action.
"I was shocked that a parliamentary question was deliberately not being answered by civil servants. But even more amazing was that the outgoing Minister for Education, Mr Martin, has not told the Dail about this," Mrs Owen said.
She said she would be calling on the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison, to deal with the situation in the Dail tomorrow. "I will be asking him to ensure they are answered, because in terms of written questions we will not get another chance to get information for several weeks," she said.
She added that she would also be asking the new Minister for Education and Science, Dr Woods, to clarify the position within the Department in relation to staffing.
Because the Dail has not been in session since before Christmas these written answers are the first received by TDs so far this year.
Dr Woods is due to take his first Education questions in the Dail on Febuary 7th.