Colleges clock up travel bills of €11.5m

Cash-strapped universities are clocking up travel bills of more than €11m a year, new figures have revealed.

At a time when third-level bosses have been warning of the impact of government funding cuts on education, Department of Education figures show universities’ bills for travel costs rose from €11.26m in 2010 to over €11.5m last year.

The main offenders were University College Cork (UCC) where costs rose from almost €1.5m in 2010 to €1.8m and Trinity College Dublin (TCD), which had the biggest travel bill, up from €2.5m in 2010 to €2.8m in 2011.

Earlier this year, figures from the department showed universities paid out €753,000 in the last two years on taxis, including a bill of almost €263,000 at UCC.

The college is currently tendering for taxi services.

The figures do not include costs associated with research. A spokesperson for TCD said it has a strict policy governing travel spending, and all overseas travel must be authorised.

All the universities have detailed policies about travel expenses, which include requirements to use the most efficient transport methods possible.

TCD asks staff to consider using technology such as video-conferencing as an alternative to travel, in order to reduce costs.

The information was provided in response to a number of Dáil questions from Labour TD Michael McCarthy. He said he understands the need to develop links with other universities, researchers, and businesses around the world, but the figures must act as a warning to colleges who fail to inspect their outgoings.

“We have seen the heads of some universities talking about bringing in tuition fees, and that causes difficulty for some people about attending third-level education. So there is a huge onus on our universities to ensure their spending is transparent and accountable, and that there is value for money for taxpayers and for their students.” he said.