ITT chair in spotlight over hefty expenses

The chair of Institute of Technology Tralee’s governing body may soon have to review his position after being embroiled in controversy over high expenses payments and a plagiarism investigation, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has indicated.

The minister is to ask the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to probe expenses across the 14 institutes of technology, after it has emerged that Flan Garvey was paid more than €125,000 in expenses by the college from 2005 to 2011, far higher than any other board member.

Mr Garvey last week said he welcomed his vindication after a successful appeal against a finding that his degree awarded for a research masters at IT Tralee (ITT) was unjustified because of plagiarism.