Third Level Education

PAC to Scrutinise Concerns of C&AG Report on University Sector with College Bosses




Report Raises Questions about Unauthorised Pay Rates and Pension Entitlements



17th Sept 2010



The D il Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will examine fully the findings of a report published today (17th), by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General when it meets next Thursday. The report highlights some fundamental questions regarding how some aspects of the Irish university sector are managed and administrated.



The report entitled “Irish Universities Resource Management and Performance,” deals with university funding, issues relating to payment and pensions of staff, arrangements for reviewing quality and progress on achieving better information on cost of activities in the sector.



It concludes that:



• Payment of senior management levels exceeded approved levels.

• Performance related bonuses were paid without required approval.

• Better monitoring was needed to ensure that staff did not surpass the authorised levels of external work and abided by the terms of their contracts.

• Clarity was needed concerning the entitlements of added years for pension purposes of academic staff on retirement.



Committee Chairman, Bernard Allen TD said;

“In 2009, the third level education sector was allocated €1.6 billion in State funding from the Higher Education Authority. This is a hugely significant sum and good value for money must be achieved on this huge investment.



I welcome some of the findings in the Report, especially in relation to the good job that is being done by the third level sector in producing quality graduates. The international comparisons suggest that Ireland’s universities are relatively efficient and well regarded. The third level sector has a crucial role in developing students, whether they have just left second level or are mature students who are returning to education, so that they are attractive to employers here or to multi-nationals that want to locate in Europe.



The Committee will be focussing on the way Universities apply the budgets allocated to them by the State and how they ensure that these budgets are directly linked to what is produced.



I especially want to focus on the contracts between universities and their highly paid academic staff. The Committee will be asking hard questions about how these contracts are monitored so that the required minimum contact time with students is achieved, that research work is being carried out and that any private consultancy work undertaken is fully disclosed and costed.



The Report highlights how issues such as unapproved levels of pay for the senior staff in certain Universities has developed and how in some cases, pension rights appear to have accrued to these staff whereby they can get pension top-ups at a time when the pension fund which pays out these pensions was in deficit.



It appears that the taxpayer will ultimately have to meet the bill for this loose arrangement and certainly the Department of Education and Skills, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Finance all appear to have taken their eyes off the ball when it came to proper monitoring of issues relating to pay and pensions.



Next Thursday’s meeting will enable the Committee, on behalf of the taxpayer, to expose these issues in order to ensure full accountability.”