Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:84. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether Irish higher education institutions are operating at maximum productivity. [43094/12]
View answerTuesday, 9 October 2012
Questions (84)
Written answers
It must be acknowledged that the higher education sector has accommodated significant increases in students numbers over the last number of years, at a time when both funding and staff numbers have reduced.
The recurrent provision made available for 2012 to the University and Institutes of Technology sectors is €1.119 billion compared to €1.177 billion in 2011. The provision in 2008 was €1.393 billion.
Third level institutions have been the subject of an Employment Control Framework since 2009. A reduction in numbers of 6.5% was achieved under the initial ECF covering 2009 and 2010. A further reduction of 1.5% was achieved in 2011. This overall reduction of more than 8% in numbers has been delivered in a period of continuing growth in student numbers.
Enrolments in higher education continue to increase significantly with over 160,000 full-time students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) enrolled in our higher education institutions in 2010. Projections of future enrolments show that by 2020 there will be a further 16% growth in student numbers.
My Department is continuing to work with the higher education sector to ensure further efficiency gains within the context of public sector reform initiatives and the Public Service Agreement. The HEA, at my request, is also undertaking a study on the sustainability of the current funding system for higher education. An initial report was published last year, and the HEA is continuing its work in this area.