The government has highlighted “non-exchequer investment” as a key source of funding for higher education in its National Development Plan.
The plan, launched today, outlines government strategy for third-level going forward, including and anticipated €2 billion in funding through streams such as philanthropy the European Investment Bank.
Other aims for the sector include expanding the sector to cater to demographic change, retrofitting campus buildings to make them more energy-efficient and bolstering the role of higher and further education as “anchors for enterprise and regional growth”.
Overall, the plan commits to spending over €165 billion on capital projects in sectors such as housing, health and education.
The document said: “Non-Exchequer finance will continue to play an important role in the delivery of infrastructure in the higher education sector, such as borrowing by the university sector, including from the European Investment Bank (EIB), and philanthropy.”
“Recently, there have been significant and very welcome announcements of philanthropic donations to support infrastructure development in the university sector”, it continued.
“Proceeds from the disposal of properties by TU Dublin will be the main source of finance for the next programme of construction at Grangegorman.”
“In total, some €2 billion of non-Exchequer finance is expected to be invested in the sector over the period of the NDP.”
Trinity has become increasingly reliant on philanthropic funding in recent years. A review of former Provost Patrick Prendergast’s 10-year term revealed that donations and endowments increased by 115 per cent from 2015 to 2020. Trinity took in €27.8 million in donations and endowments last year alone.
The proportion of College’s income coming from the exchequer decreased significantly from before Prendergast began his tenure, from 70 per cent of the university’s total income in 2008 to 39 per cent in 2020.
This year, College received a donation of €30 million to go towards the E3 Research Institute in Trinity East – the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the state.
The plan has also committed to bolstering the role of higher and further education as “anchors for enterprise and regional growth”.
“Ireland’s further and higher education and research system is a strategic national asset which supports a knowledge-based, innovative, creative society and economy across all regions and for all citizens”, it says. “The development of human capital and knowledge must be at the heart of our response to the key challenges facing the country.”
