Over the past two years, there has only been one secondment arrangement between my Department and a university/third level sector.
This secondment arrangement was in respect of an Assistant Principal Officer of my Department who was seconded, for two days a week, to University College Cork (UCC). He was seconded to the position of Senior Policy Adviser to MaREI, SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research and Innovation that is co-ordinated by the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at University College Cork.
For administrative purposes, given the nature of the secondment (2 day/3 day), the officer remained on my Department's payroll but salary-related costs associated with the 2 days working in the research center were recouped from UCC. As such, my Department was not liable for salary costs for the 2 days the officer worked in the research center.
This secondment arrangement between my Department and University College Cork ended on 31 December 2021.