Provost Patrick Prendergast has called for the creation of a Department of Higher Education and Research, hitting out at a decade of state underfunding he said “amounts to a public neglect of Ireland’s greatest asset”.
In an op-ed in the Irish Times, Prendergast said that the establishment of such a department was the key to developing “globally competitive universities that perform the ground-breaking research that drives innovation economies”.
He said that a Department of Higher Education and Research that had a combined annual budget of €3 billion could “become a major driver in Ireland’s efforts to become one of the world’s leading knowledge economies”.
Prendergast – who has become increasingly critical in recent months of the government’s attitude towards university funding – said that “higher education is rarely top of the agenda within the Department of Education”.
“It was a handy target for cuts when the economic crisis washed over us a decade ago. Since then public funding per student has fallen from almost €9,000 per student a decade ago to just over €5,000 today. It amounts to a public neglect of Ireland’s greatest asset.”
Prendergast’s comments echo an open letter signed by over 800 academics and researchers last week.
Earlier this year, before the general election, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin repeated his party’s promise to create a new department of higher education, arguing it would be necessary if the country is to respond to Brexit and the funding crisis in the third-level sector.
“We have to immediately address a funding crisis which threatens quality in our higher education system, to invest more in helping disadvantaged communities”, Martin said.
But the viability of such a department has been questioned given that it would constitutionally require abolishing an existing department.
Prendergast wrote: “We need to follow the lead of other countries and create globally competitive universities that perform the ground-breaking research that drives innovation economies. To do this, the State needs to invest in our students with a coherent strategy to create the talent for the next phase of Ireland’s development.”
“A department with a focus on higher education and research is the best means to achieve this. Countries which invest in research tend to power ahead. There is a reason that places such as New Zealand and South Korea have coped so well with the corona virus.”
A new department dedicated to higher education and research could, Prendergast wrote, “build bridges to other advanced societies which are prioritising education and research”.
Prendergast’s op-ed comes after over 800 academics and researchers signed an open letter to Ireland’s TDs, calling for the creation of a dedicated department for higher education. The letter flagged a “crisis” in research that “risks becoming fatal if not addressed”.
The letter said that “now more than ever and into the future we need outstanding researchers. Without them, Ireland will become a backwater when it comes to science and discovery, to the detriment of our reputation internationally, including with multinationals”.
