Universities hit by €90 million funding shortfall since end of fees

UNIVERSITIES have to find €90 million a year to make up for the drop in Government funding since college fees were abolished.

The figure was revealed by the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU), which warned yesterday of falling standards in third-level education if State investment continues to be cut. This, in turn, will impact on the country’s ability to attract overseas investors seeking top-level graduates.

The stark message was delivered in a damning report, commissioned by CHIU on the future funding of the university sector.

It showed that direct support per student for universities fell by €1,240 between 1995 and 2001, creating a shortfall of more than €90 million for the country’s 73,000 university students.

Along with major cuts in capital budgets over the last two years, particularly for research buildings and equipment, this is making the job of financing third level increasingly difficult, CHIU said.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey has asked the OECD to carry out a major review of third-level education here, to help put the higher education system in the top rank of developed countries.

But, CHIU vice-chairman Professor Gerry Wrixon said, the slide in third level funding will have to be stopped if that is to be achieved. “We realise Government funding is not a bottomless pit, but we need some support, and we need them to stop reducing our income,” he said.

“The standards of our libraries, our labs, and our computer facilities are falling, part-time staff have been let go, and the quality of education is dropping as a result. But quality is the factor that should be giving Ireland the advantage over other countries,” said Prof Wrixon, who is president of University College Cork.

He said the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment is playing its part by funding international research experts to come here through Science Foundation Ireland.

But on the other hand, he said, the buildings they should be using are not available, because the Department of Education put a freeze on the €150 million capital element of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions a year ago.