Education Minister Richard Bruton and Minister for State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor have reacted to the Higher Education Authority’s review into the University of Limerick with the introduction of financial penalties for serious governance breaches in the future.
Following a number of protected disclosures and other complaints made against University of Limerick, Minister Bruton requested the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to initiate the independent review into governance, human resources and financial practices and procedures at the university.
The need for the review was supported by UL President Professor Des Fitzgerald who was appointed subsequent to the timeline covered by the review.
Dr Richard Thorn, President Emeritus of Sligo Institute of Technology, was appointed by the HEA to conduct the review. The University of Limerick now have a fortnight to respond to the issues raised in the report
Noting Dr Thorn’s report, Minister Bruton said its publication was one of a number of actions being taken by his Department and the HEA to improve corporate governance in higher education institutions.
“I see the culmination of this review as a positive step towards addressing the serious matters which have been raised in relation to the University of Limerick by a number of stakeholders. The Review makes a number of important recommendations that must be addressed by the University of Limerick in order to bring these serious issues to a conclusion. My Department and the HEA will continue to work with the University of Limerick to provide the appropriate support to allow the prompt implementation of the recommendations set out by Dr Thorn.”
Minister Mitchell O’Connor thanked Dr. Thorn for his work in delivering the review and the President, Governing Body and staff of the University of Limerick for extending their full co-operation to him.
“When Dr. Thorn’s recommendations are implemented by the University of Limerick, it will allow the university to focus on its core mission of continuing to provide excellent teaching and learning opportunities for its staff and students.
“The Governance framework for higher education has been strengthened considerably in the past couple of years. We are building on this framework with proposed new powers for the Minister to appoint an investigator in the university sector, as well as the introduction of a financial penalty for serious governance breaches in the future”.
The publication of today’s report is one of a number of actions being taken by the Department and the HEA to strengthen governance arrangements in the higher education sector, including the establishment of a new Governance Framework for the Higher Education system. This has included:
More comprehensive annual governance reporting requirements
The introduction of signed financial memoranda between the HEA and HEIs setting out respective responsibilities
New guidelines on timeliness of reporting
Regular reporting and liaison with the Office of the C&AG
A new accountability and risk mechanism in place with the Department of Education and Skills
In addition, a new programme of rolling reviews has been established to cover specific elements of governance. The first rolling review of governance compliance was on procurement and was undertaken in 2016. The second review, which is currently underway, is examining Intellectual Property policy implementation across Higher Education Institutes. The next review will focus on the issue of severance payments and unauthorised allowances across the higher education sector.
New powers have been introduced to complement the existing regulatory framework. These include a new power for the Minister to appoint an investigator to any publicly funded higher education institution if serious concerns regarding corporate governance arise. It is also proposed to introduce a financial penalty for institutions in instances where there are serious governance breaches.
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