UCC pays €3,000 a month for president’s housing

Students and taxpayers might find it strange that University College Cork is paying €3,000 a month on rental accommodation for its president, a TD says.

The €36,000 annual cost, based on a current three-year lease, was revealed by UCC chief financial officer Diarmuid Collins in response to a question by the Tipperary Labour TD Alan Kelly at a meeting with the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Patrick O’Shea returned from the US to take up a 10-year role as UCC president from February 2017, starting on a salary of €185,000.