Major Cutbacks in University Funding – Slash and Burn !

The long awaited ‘An Bord Snip Nua’ report has called for drastic measures to eliminate as many as 17,358 public sector jobs (over 7,000 in Education) as part of its plan to cut public expenditure by an annual total of €5.3 billion

The recommended measures for Third Level Education in Ireland are listed below.

D2. Rationalisation of third level institutions

At present, Ireland has 7 universities, 14 institutes of technology and over 20 other third level educational institutions feeding into the CAO, many of which are comparatively small by international standards. Given the size and population of the country, there is scope to reduce the number of third level institutions.

The Group proposes the following rationalisation measures:

1. Abolition of the Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute (TRBDI)

The case for the continued existence of TRBDI is weak. The institute is located near two other IoT’s and has a high complement of staff (100) compared to the number of full-time students (338). The Group recommends that the institution be closed with existing students re assigned to nearby IoT’s. The campus should be disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer.

2. Amalgamation of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) with UCD or TCD

The Group notes that DIAS operates under legislation dating from the 1940’s. The Group concludes that it should be amalgamated with either University College Dublin (UCD) or Trinity College Dublin (TCD) to achieve efficiency savings.

3. Amalgamation of DIT and two Dublin-based IoT’s

The Group is of the view that two IoTs based in Dublin (Tallaght and Blanchardstown) should be amalgamated with the existing Dublin Institute of Technology to achieve economies of scale. A single large IoT in Dublin would reduce the risk of duplicate investments in research infrastructure and teaching staff. The amalgamation would also offer the opportunity of restructuring the delivery of teaching Programmes and promote specialisation of high-quality teaching.

The cost of central administration and services for a sample number of IoT’s amounts to between 10% and 11% of overall costs. The Group targets a 50% saving in the administration costs of the two smaller institutes involved, which would yield savings of €2m annually.

The more efficient use of infrastructure as a result of the amalgamation of the institutions e.g. using the surplus lands at Tallaght (which is well-served with transport links) would lead to additional savings.

4. Amalgamation of National College of Art & Design (NCAD) and the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology The Group notes that the number of students attending the NCAD is quite low and concludes that a single third level institution for art and design could deliver savings in back office and programme delivery costs. There should also be capital savings arising from the likely cancellation of the planned capital re-development of NCAD. Savings on the same basis as 3 and 4 above are estimated at €700,000.

5. More generally, there should be a rationalisation of the remaining smaller institutions, including institutes of technology outside Dublin in favour of having fewer institutions, which would benefit from operating on a larger scale (ideally with a minimum of 1,000 students). The Group proposes that such rationalisation could be pursued to produce a regional rather than a county approach. Amalgamation offers administrative efficiency and also provides increased scale for delivery of services to students e.g. improved choice in terms of subjects and courses and improved quality through the development of “centres of excellence” in particular areas of specialisation.

The Group envisages that the rationalisation of institutions as outlined above should lead to the following benefits:

• Decrease in management and administration/support costs, such as IT, Finance and HR;

• Increased scale for delivery of services to students should lead to improved choice in terms of subjects and courses and improved quality through the development of “centres of excellence”;

• Reduced risk of duplicate investments in research infrastructure and teaching staff;

• Synergies in delivery of teaching programmes; and

• Greater scope for consistency in conditions of employment such as required teaching hours per week.

Overall, the Group targets €9.2m savings for this measure (not including TRBDI or DIAS savings).

D. 3 Merge HEA with D/E&S

There is duplication in the number of staff carrying out administrative supervision work for the third level education institutions across D/E&S and the Higher Education Authority (HEA). There are 44 staff in the D/E&S supervising the third level institutions4. The Special Group is of the view that this staffing level is too high considering that the HEA (staff of 59) already carries out similar activities. The Group considers that the HEA should be merged with the D/E&S to generate efficiencies in staffing and administrative expenditure. The Group envisages savings of €1m and associated staffing reductions of 15.

D. 4 Reduce allocation for the teacher training colleges

There are currently 5 teacher training colleges, two State institutions(St Patrick’s and Mary Immaculate) which receive combined funding of €35m and three private colleges (Froebel College, Colaiste Mhuire and Church of Ireland College of Education) which together receive over €11m in Exchequer funding annually. Almost 1,900 primary school teachers graduate annually, whether on the basis of Bachelor of Education courses or post-graduate courses. 500 of those teachers graduate from Hibernia College, a private institution, at no cost to the Exchequer. Given the fact that the Government has decided to impose a ceiling on teacher numbers and the fact that the staffing schedule is now moving in an upward direction the Group considers that the graduation of 1,900 teachers every year is too high a figure and that the State subvention of teacher training colleges should be reduced accordingly.

Pupil numbers in primary schools are projected to increase by 8,600 in 2010, 11,500 in 2011 and 12,000 in 2012. If the Government allows the ceiling on teacher numbers to increase to accommodate the increase in pupil numbers this will require about 300 additional teachers in September 2010, 400 in 2011 and another 400 in 2012. The estimated rateof teacher retirements is about 800 each year (the Incentivised Scheme for Early Retirement does not apply to teachers), so the requirement for additional teachers over the coming years is likely to be about 1,100 to 1,200 each year.

As an initial step in re-evaluating the supply of teachers, the Group recommends that the allocation to D/E&S for the training of teachers should be reduced by €5m in 2010. It can then decide on how best to manage the supply of teachers, whether each of the 5 existing teacher training colleges should continue to be funded to a lesser extent or whether it would be more efficient to concentrate resources on a smaller number of colleges.

D. 5 More efficient allocations for research and development

Research and development (R&D) funding for the third level sector is provided through the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) and the research councils. An allocation is made to HEAnet. In general, the Group is strongly of the view that substantial reductions in funding are warranted given the significant amounts invested to date, the lack of verifiable economic benefits resulting from these investments and the inflationary impact of funding on research and administration salaries.

The two research councils, Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Science (IRCHSS) and Irish Research Council for Science,Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) provide funding for researchers in the form of post graduate scholarships, post doctoral fellowships, research fellowships and project based research. The Group supports the CEEU recommendation that the industry co-funding ratio should be increased for IRCSET’s enterprise partnership awards.

Further, the Group is of the view that the allocation to the research councils to increase Ph.D. outputs should be reduced because of the uncertainty about the absorptive capacity of industry to employ fourth level graduates and the propensity of Ph.D. graduates to emigrate.

The fifth cycle of the PRTLI scheme is due to run over the period 2010 to 2014. This scheme has been in operation since 1998 and there is insufficient evidence of the positive economic impact of the programme to date. Subject to any contractual commitments, this cycle should be cancelled. This will lead to savings in future years as spending on earlier cycles of PRTLI winds down without any new funding requirements arising in their place. The cancellation should also have implications for SFI funding given that SFI researchers are housed in PRTLI funded infrastructure.

HEAnet is Ireland’s National Education and Research Network, providing high quality internet services to Irish universities, IoT’s and the research and educational community, including all Irish primary and secondary schools. Due to the likely reduction in allocations for R&D activities, the Group considers that further savings should also be possible in HEAnet’s allocation.

In a separate, wider recommendation on science, technology and innovation, the Group has recommended that all STI funding be brought into a single funding stream, managed by a single funding agency. In this context, the Group has also recommended that the overall level of State funding for STI should be reduced by €100m across all sectors. The amount of this overall reduction that should apply in the Education area is €27.5m – €10.2m capital and €17.3m current. In addition to this, the cancellation of Cycle 5 of PRTLI as proposed above should give rise to further savings in future years. The Group also recommends that future R&D allocations are targeted at projects with commercial potential.

D. 6 Reduction in the allocation to the Strategic Innovation Fund

The Group is of the view that the activities funded by the Strategic Innovation Fund are no longer an affordable priority in the current economic climate. The fact that drawdown of available funds has been slow further strengthens the argument for the scheme to be wound down. Accordingly, the Group recommends that there should be no further funding rounds and that the fund be abolished. However there are legal contractual commitments in place which must be met before abolition can take place. As spending under the SIF was €16m of the €40m allocated in 2008 and the 2009 allocation is €26m, the Group proposes a reduction in the annual allocation of €10m.

D. 7 Rationalise research administration at the third level institutions

The Group notes that many third level institutions have built up substantial research administration staffing in recent years as R&D funding increased significantly. Over 200 staff are involved in the administration of research and research budgets in the 7 universities at a cost of over €16m per annum. A total of 67 of those staff are employed in UCD at an annual cost of €5.3m while 40 are employed by Trinity College costing €3.2m per annum. There is scope for staff savings in this area given the likely future reductions in R&D allocations and the excess staffing employed which have not led to any sizeable increases in private funding for R&D at the institutions. Overall, savings of €4m are targeted.

D. 8 Reduction in the allocation to the Student Support Scheme

At present, €297m is spent on supports for students attending third level institutions. The support is means tested and is available in respect of all third level courses. In order to reduce the cost of this scheme while continuing to target those most in need of support, the Group recommends that an asset test be introduced as one of the criteria to be used in the means testing under the scheme. In addition, the Group considers that the current situation whereby unemployed students who return to full-time education under the Department of Social & Family Affairs funded Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) are also eligible to apply for a D/E&S student maintenance grant under this scheme should be changed. The Group considers that students should be entitled to apply for either a BTEA allowance or a student maintenance grant, but not both. It is therefore recommended that BTEA recipients should not be eligible for further support under the D/E&S Student Maintenance Grant Scheme. Finally, consideration could be given to targeting this scheme in support of priority educational areas (e.g. science & technology). It is estimated that the combination of these two changes would yield annual savings of up to €70m. More generally, the Group considers that grant schemes of this nature should be cash limited each year so that the allocation is fixed and determinate in line with overall funding priorities.

D. 9 Discontinue funding for Grangegorman Development Agency

The Grangegorman Development Agency is a statutory agency established in 2006 by the Government to redevelop the former St. Brendan’s Hospital grounds in Dublin city centre as a new campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and to provide community health facilities on behalf of the Health Services Executive. Given the current uncertainty in relation to this project, the Group proposes to discontinue all current funding (€1.5m) for the agency. This measure could also avoid further capital expenditure on the planned €1.5bn capital development Programme associated with Grangegorman. The Group further recommends that the State dispose of land associated with this project to generate revenue for the Exchequer and that the option be explored of consolidating DIT on alternative lands, e.g. at Tallaght Institute of Technology as suggested at D.2.3 above.

D. 10 Abolition of National University of Ireland

Progress is being made towards the amalgamation of Higher Education & Training Awards Council (HETAC), Further Education & Training Awards Council (FETAC) and the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) into one body. It is likely that the qualifications functions of the NUI in relation to its constituent universities and recognised colleges will also be amalgamated into the new qualifications body. Once these functions are removed from the NUI, its remaining functions would consist of the following:

• Printing parchment for the making of awards itself and for the making of NUI awards by the constituent universities;

• Bestowing prizes and bursaries across the constituent universities of the recognised colleges;

• Maintaining a register of NUI graduates and undertaking the elections for the NUI seats on Seanad Éireann; and

• Supporting Convocation of the NUI.

It is not considered that the remaining functions of the NUI would sustain the existence of the body. It is recommended accordingly that the NUI be abolished and its remaining functions transferred to another existing body as necessary. This should result in savings of the order of €3m a year.

Other measures

Re-Introduction of Third Level Fees

In addition to the efficiency actions outlined above, the Group is of the view that third level fees should be re-introduced to provide a sustainable funding stream for third level education which would relieve the existing burden on the Exchequer. The existing free fees scheme subsidises the education of students from high earning socio-economic groups e.g. it is estimated that 28% of free fees covers students from households with income in excess of €80,000. The continued rational for this subsidy to be payable to those households which have the ability to pay for third level education is open to question. Furthermore, the scale of the budgetary crisis facing the Exchequer points to the need for tuition fees to help fund third level institutions.