University College Cork's deficit has more than doubled in the last three years to nearly €50 million, the Dáil's spending watchdog has been told.
Defending the figures before the Public Accounts Committee, college president Gerry Wrixon insisted that the State is not spending enough on third level education. In 2002 UCC owed €21.7 million for capital spending, but this figure had jumped to over €40 million last year, while a further €6 million is owed for current spending.
However, Mr Wrixon insisted that the debt would be reduced in coming years.
Based in the city centre, the college is landlocked, said Mr Wrixon, and must buy any available property to cover the rapid growth in student numbers. In 1999 UCC had 11,750 students, but this has increased to 15,500 and will reach 22,000 by 2007. Under questioning, it was revealed that UCC did not have permission from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to pay €11.5 million for six acres in Cork city centre.
The land was bought for €23 million from Irish Distillers by UCC and the Mercy Hospital, though the latter "was reimbursed immediately" by the Department of Health and Children.
"The €11.5 million is still part of our capital deficit," Mr Wrixon told Green Party Cork South Central TD, Dan Boyle. However, under further questioning from Mr Boyle, Mr Wrixon said UCC had asked the HEA "if we could buy it.
"We were not told 'No'." UCC had to compete for the best students, keep its buildings up-to-date and produce graduates for "a knowledge-based economy," Mr Wrixon said.
"Do I refuse to buy land? Do I let existing capital plant deteriorate? Do I ignore health and safety regulations?" he asked. The budget for Queen's University Belfast is 50 per cent bigger than UCC's, while the northern university also benefits from the reintroduction of top-up fees, he said.
HEA deputy chief executive Mary Kerr said UCC has been "extremely successful" in recent years, though the rise in debt is "significant".
"The size of the deficit does not compromise the financial viability of the college. It does have the assets to back it up," she told the meeting. However, committee vice-chairman Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said the debt had been rising for several years.
"If every other university did likewise there would be a substantial deficit around. I am surprised that you are only now requesting a plan for dealing with it," he said.
Defending himself vigorously during exchanges, Mr Wrixon said: "Obviously, when you are trying to change an institution from being a very traditional institution to one that makes the kind of contribution [ necessary] to our development, there are a lot of changes that you have to make, some of which are less palatable than others.
"The result of that is that there will be a certain level of dissension. "We are dealing with clever people who can write letters to the important people," he told Fianna Fáil Dublin Mid-West TD, John Curran.
