The day to day management of universities and institutes of technology, including library opening hours, are matters for the institutions themselves. My Department does not have a function in such matters.
Some €630.5 million has been provided in the 2004 Estimates for universities and HEA designated institutions. I have no plans to provide additional funding to the sector this year. Overall funding, capital and current, for the higher education sector will stand at €1.48 billion in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, there has been an increase of almost €300 million in the recurrent provision to the university sector. This represents an increase of approximately 90% over this period. This is up €631 million or 74% on 1997 levels.
I am aware that institutions will be challenged in the short term by the constraints on recurrent Exchequer funding placed on them in 2004, having regard to overall cost pressures. I appreciate that individual institutions are required to find economies and to become more streamlined in some of their operations to reconcile available budgets with pre-existing demands and commitments. This must be viewed, however, in the context of overall increases in investment in higher education over recent years and the Government's longer-term strategic objective for excellence in the sector.
