€150m core funding increase is what universities 'have been crying out for'

In relation to UCC specifically, Sean O'Driscoll said the taxpayer has now, through the government, committed a serious level of multi-annual funding to the university.

The budget decision to increase core funding for universities by €150m to bring it to €650m by 2030 has been described as a “huge win” for students and the sector.

The increase, and its delivery in a multi-annual format, gives financial certainty to a sector that has faced years of funding uncertainty, said UCC’s governing authority chairman Sean O’Driscoll, who just three weeks ago warned of the funding crisis facing Ireland’s third level sector.

“If I thought three weeks ago when I raised this multi-annual core funding issue that it could be delivered in this budget, I would have been very happy,” he said.

“There is no such thing as utopia, and not everything that was sought has been delivered, but it is a lot.

It is hugely positive for the sector and I would be very complimentary of government, of the relevant ministers and I commend them for taking this step.

The funding announcement, flagged by Tánaiste Micheál Martin in the Irish Examiner last week, was one of several key measures announced for the higher education sector by Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, in yesterday’s budget.

Higher Education Minister Patrick O’Donovan said the budget addresses the core funding gap in higher education raised as part of the government’s own funding the future report, and pledges €50m this year from the National Training Fund (NTF), and rising by a further €100 million by 2030.

This is something the higher education sector has been crying out for, and Government has listened.

Mr O’Driscoll, who is chairman of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), a member of the Ireland 2040 delivery board, and a former chairman and chief executive of industrial giant Glen Dimplex, said the decision to increase core funding and deliver it multi-annually will make a huge difference to the higher education sector’s ability to plan strategically.

UCC's Sean O'Driscoll said the decision to increase core funding and deliver it multi-annually will make a huge difference to the higher education sector’s ability to plan strategically. Picture: John Allen/Provision

He also described as significant various other budget measures, including a once-off €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee that will benefit an estimated 103,000 higher education students who are eligible for the free fees initiative; the €9m funding from the NTF that will increase PhD stipends from €22,000 to €25,000 per annum; and a once-off increase to the postgraduate fee contribution grant from €4,000 to €5,000 for eligible students.

Crucially, he said there is an additional €102m commitment to compensate for payroll inflation, and a commitment to increase that for each of the next four years, with details expected within weeks on the level of compensation for payroll inflation to be paid for the financial year which ended last month.

There is also a commitment to examine capital expenditure over the next five years, with funding for key strategic research and innovation projects funding expected to come from the NTF surplus.

He said this budget seems to be the first where the government of the day has taken a significantly different approach and made decisions on long-term strategic funding initiatives — in water, energy, transport, and housing.

In relation to UCC specifically, he said the taxpayer has now, through the government, committed a serious level of multi-annual funding to the university.

“I will be looking for tangible outputs from this investment,” he said.