Chairman yet to be appointed at IT Tralee

A new chairman of Institute of Technology Tralee has yet to be appointed by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, 12 weeks after Flan Garvey announced he would be stepping down from job.

He told college authorities 12 weeks ago he would retire at the end of July from the role he has been in since 2001 as chair of its governing body. His term was not due to end until Feb 2016, but had come under pressure over allegations of plagiarism in a 2008 thesis, and his expenses.

It is up to Mr Quinn to appoint a successor but the Department of Education has confirmed that no appointment has been made.

“A new chairperson will be appointed in due course by the minister in line with the provisions of paragraph 2 (2) of the second schedule of the Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992,” a spokesperson said.

The same law provides for the deputy chairman to chair meetings if the office of chair is vacant. IT Tralee deputy chairman Cllr Terry O’Brien took on the duties when Mr Garvey asked him to take over in December while the plagiarism inquiry was taking place.

Mr Garvey, an ex-councillor for Fianna Fáil and former mayor of Clare, received a masters degree at IT Tralee in 2008, but 26 academics at the college claimed to college management last November that he plagiarised a number of works in his thesis about the history of his local parish.

Three external academics appointed to investigate found that he had committed plagiarism, although unintentionally, and said the awarding of the MA degree was not justified. But an appeal body found that the college rules on plagiarism were not clear and a finding that the award was unjustified would be unfair.

The outcome prompted an effective vote of no confidence in his chairmanship by some academic staff.

Mr Garvey’s expenses also raised eyebrows, but he insists he was entitled to all payments and that he had a 320km round trip every time he attended the college for meetings, interviews or other business. He received an average €18,000 each year between 2005 and 2011, compared to less than €1,000 annually paid to other governing body members in the same period.

Meanwhile, Mr Quinn is expecting a report next month on the expenses of board members of the 14 institutes of technology.

He asked the Higher Education Authority in May to get details from each of them of the amounts paid to governing body members each year since 2009 for travel, interview panel fees and other expenses.