THE HIGHER Education Authority is to request the repayment of €6 million in “unauthorised” allowances paid by UCD and the other universities to senior academics.
The move is certain to be strongly resisted by UCD president Dr Hugh Brady who claims any such action would be “inappropriate” and open to legal question.
But the authority’s tough stance has the support of Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin.
A meeting of the authority board heard that UCD accounted for about €4 million of the payments made without sanction from the HEA or Department of Education.
The authority board has agreed that 50 per cent of the overpayments should be paid directly to the HEA for future campus development, with the remainder used to support student services in each college. Universities would have to make the repayment from their own resources; the individuals who benefited from the payments will not be liable.
The €6 million is an estimated figure supplied by the universities. The Comptroller and Auditor General will shortly provide precise figures to the authority.
The dispute between UCD and the HEA has been simmering since a meeting of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last year. This highlighted a conflict of evidence between Dr Brady and Tom Boland, chief executive of the authority, on whether UCD knew extra payments to senior staff were not allowed.
Dr Brady claimed the college had been given no detailed instruction that the additional payments to staff were unauthorised. Mr Boland, in turn, cited a series of letters and other contacts with UCD over a two-year period. At one stage he asked: “What part of No does UCD not understand?”
The college claims that the additional payments were funded from non-exchequer income. It says the incentives offered to senior staff since 2007 allowed UCD to generate an additional €50-€80 million a year.
The €4 million in alleged unlawful allowances at UCD was paid over a 10-year period without the approval of the authority. A further €266,000 was paid in bonuses between 2005 and 2008 shared between 12 people.
The latest HEA move will revive the controversy about high pay in the university sector. Last month, Mr Quinn told the Dáil that about 100 people across the seven universities earned more than €200,00 per year. This included 34 staff members at UCC and 17 at UCD. The figures for the other relevant universities were: NUI Galway (21); TCD (23); and University of Limerick (5).
Mr Quinn has also asked Dr Brady and the other university presidents to take a pay cut but they have not responded.
Last year members of the committee criticised the authority’s apparent delay in addressing the unlawful payments. But Mr Boland said it had acted on the reasonable assumption that universities were operating within the law.
The HEA is due to table a report on the funding crisis in higher education. This is expected to open the way for the Government to consider the return of fees, student loans or increased student charges.
