IRISH UNIVERSITIES face a funding crisis and risk falling well behind international competitors, according to the leaders of the State's two leading colleges.
In an unprecedented move, UCD president Dr Hugh Brady and TCD provost Dr John Hegarty have joined forces to highlight the "major funding deficit" facing Irish universities by comparison with international competitors.
In an article in today's Irish Times, they say the reality on the university campus in Ireland is increasingly at odds with Government rhetoric which envisages "world-class" institutions driving a new "knowledge society".
The university heads say the system is lurching towards crisis due to several factors including: that core funding per student has been reduced by over 33 per cent since 1995; maintenance and upgrading of the physical infrastructure of universities has "virtually ground to a halt through lack of funding"; student/staff ratios in competing states like Scotland or Denmark are now four times better than Ireland, and operating budgets in these countries are "between two and three times those available here".
Rather than closing the gap with these leading institutions elsewhere, the two university heads say "we are allowing it to widen by progressively eroding funding for the core teaching function".
It is understood that a majority of the seven universities in the State now operate with a substantial budget deficit, totalling more than €25 million this year. This is expected to deteriorate further next year as cuts in core funding take effect.
In their article, they warn: "We cannot afford to 'bury our heads in the sand' and allow poorly funded universities to fall behind international competitors."
In seeking a national debate on third-level funding, they ask: "Can we as a society agree there is a funding deficit at third-level that needs to be addressed urgently in the national interest?"
The article comes as Minister for Education Mary Hanafin prepares a new strategy for higher education.
The university chiefs signal that while the strategy is welcome, it "must not be used to shirk the immediate funding problem".
With the budgetary position tightening, today's article is likely to reignite the debate about the return of college tuition fees. Ms Hanafin has said that their return is off the agenda for the foreseeable future. She has still though to spell out how Irish universities can achieve "world-class" status without a significant increase in funding.
Four years ago, an OECD review of higher education said a "quantum leap" in funding was required to allow the Republic to compete with international competitors. It also backed the return of fees.
The Government has invested heavily in research funding for universities in recent years through the National Development Plan, the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions and the €3.8 billion Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.
However, university heads say there has been a parallel reduction in core funding, making it impossible for them to compete on equal terms with international competitors.
