Times may be tough, but there’s been no McCrunch under the golden arches of Irish Universities. While cutbacks, job losses for fixed-term staff and a pension fund levy rule the roost for most academic staff, it appears a select few have been enjoying ‘super sized’ portions of the tax payers budget.
The recent media attention on ‘high flyer’ academics in Ireland receiving ‘super sized’ salaries has brought the debate about the future of third level education in Ireland sharply into focus. The Minister for Education and Science confirmed today that student fees are set to increase dramatically in Oct 2010. In this context, the fallout of the special remuneration practices adopted by every university in Ireland (with the apparent consent of the Higher Education Authority) will require serious explanation by the Department of Education if the credibility of Irish Universities is to be upheld.
While some may argue an explanation, if not a justification for the super-sized salaries of some senior academics, that some super sized academics are qualified doctors or consultants, few would make the same argument for administrators and basic science academic staff who have also received similar unprecedented remuneration at these colleges.
The fatuous argument presented by the IUA for increasing the remuneration practices for presidents of these colleges in their submission to the review body on higher remuneration in the public service, referred to their “mental horsepower”. Presumably, the same argument was used to justify the large salary remuneration for super sizing several academics who were recruited to Irish universities to increase their ‘world class’ credentials.
While it is true that several academics of international standing and reputation are worthy of ‘super sizing’, there are several who are clearly not and the attempt by University presidents to justify their recruitment on the basis of ‘world class’ research now rings rather hollow.
The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) condemned the decision by the HEA not to disclose details of the exceptionally high salaries paid to almost twenty senior personnel in six of the seven universities under its remit.
Earlier this year, IFUT, using the Freedom of Information Act, exposed the secret salary levels paid to certain senior personnel in UCD. Now, by further use of the FOI Act, IFUT has established that there are small numbers of similar secret pay arrangements in all of the other six universities.
“The HEA has provided us with the names of all of those who have been awarded exceptionally high levels of pay”, said Mike Jennings, General Secretary of IFUT. “However, despite the fact that all of these salaries are paid from public funds, the HEA is stubbornly refusing to reveal the money amounts involved”.
The details of the super sized academics are now available in the public domain. The contribution and academic performance indicators in bibliometric research analysis will now follow and form the basis of determining the true value for money of these super-sized academics.
The McCrunch might then begin to hurt.
'Watchdog' on Higher Education in Ireland 