University heads warn of impending crisis in funding
STATE support for universities was cut in real terms by ?1,240 per student between 1995 and 2001.
The situation deteriorated further over the past two years with cutbacks of the order of 14.5pc, according to the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU).
In a letter to Education Minister Mary Hanafin it says that the effect of the cutbacks is cumulative and if they are not reversed the full impact will hit home next year.
The CHIU says the cutbacks are being compounded by the continuing growth in student numbers.
The letter says that having agreed to pay increases for university staff the Government failed to provide the funding to meet additional pay costs in 2004.
"The universities simply cannot meet the cumulative costs of those increases in 2005 and maintain services," says CHIU chairman Prof Gerry Wrixon.
The Government's target is that Irish universities will be in the top 10pc in the world.
But Prof Wrixon's letter warns that this target cannot be reached without modern buildings and leading-edge facilities and equipment comparable with the best universities internationally.
To raise investment to the level of the top 10pc of OECD countries would require an overall increase of 48pc in overall funding of the higher education sector.
- John WalsheEducation Editor
