The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has recorded a surplus of nearly €80,000 in its most recent accounts, up almost €40,000 on the previous year.
USI’s income and expenditure accounts – reporting for the year ending June 30th, 2019, and presented at its national congress today – show the body saved over €75,000 in expenditure between June 2018 and 2019.
But USI’s accounts warn that the body is “developing a dependency on grant income which relate to specific projects”.
“Such grant income cannot be depended on beyond each project’s specific timeline and can falsely raise expectations of the Union’s capabilities and financial strength”, says the report, signed by Chris Newell, the chair of USI’s Finance Committee, and USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick.
In the year ending June 2019, USI received over €250,000 in project income – more than 20 per cent of its overall income for the year.
It got the money for schemes including the National Student Engagement Programme, run by USI along with the Higher Education Authority and Quality and Qualifications Ireland.
The national union, which represents 374,000 students around the country, scaled back its campaign expenditure in 2019 compared to 2018 – when USI was heavily involved in the campaign to repeal the eighth amendment.
Gareth Williams, USI’s accountant, said it is “very encouraging that USI continues to report a surplus each year”.
“The figures here are very much consistent, and have been for a number of years”, he said.
USI’s income and expenditure accounts, presented at its national congress today.
The union’s largest expenditure was the salaries of its staff – including its executive officers – which amounted to almost €400,000. Responding to a question from a member of congress, Newell said USI’s president earns just over €28,000 a year, while the rest of its officers receive slightly more than €27,000 annually.
USI also paid €85,000 to run its congress in 2019 – marking a saving of more than €8,000 on 2018.
The body’s national congress is being staged over Zoom due to the coronavirus pandemic. Voting in USI’s elections will take place remotely this evening, with Fitzpatrick running uncontested for a second term as president.
