Third Level Institutions Governance

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2017

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

Questions (253)

Sean Fleming

Question:

253. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 113 of 5 July 2017, if he will provide a copy of the information provided by UCC to his Department and the HEA; the way the voted expenditure for 2015 and 2016 was utilised (details supplied); if he will reconcile the principal differences between the audited financial statements and funding statements issued from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33081/17]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions, including UCC. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions. As an autonomous body, the internal disbursement of this funding, along with any funding it receives from private sources, is a matter for UCC.

While the HEA monitors the financial position of all the higher education institutions under its designation, the funding is in fact allocated to institutions based on a Recurrent Grant Allocation Model which is driven primarily by student numbers weighted by the relative costs of providing education in different disciplines with additional performance mechanisms built in to reflect outcomes such as those relating to access, skills-based provision and research.