The Estimates for Public Services 2023 were published as part of the Budget 2023 Expenditure report.The Higher Education allocation for 2023 includes an increase of Higher Education Funding in the amount of, €40 million, to address the sustainable funding of Higher Education as laid out in Funding the Future, including
- Improved staffing and capacity building in Universities/Specialist Colleges (€18m)
- Improved staffing and strengthening Structural capacity of Technological Universities (€18m)
- FET and HE co-developed and co-delivered programmes (€2m)
- Increased funding for existing medicine places to protect quality and enhance sustainability of the system (€2.4m)
This €40m allocation is a full year cost and an increase in the level of baseline funding from the 2022 estimates. This investment is the first significant step in addressing core underfunding of the higher education system in a strategic and reformative way. By providing capacity building for key roles we are resourcing the sector to adapt and respond to key strategic reform measures. This progress has been expertly aided by the work of the Funding the Future Implementation Group which is co-chaired by the Minister and Professors Anne Looney and Tom Collins, which will now continue its remit to develop reform recommendations to inform the implementation of these measures and development of future budgetary considerations.
In addition the work of Funding the Future and a recent Spending Review realised a 25% increase level of demographic funding per additional student for the 2022/23 academic year. Through Budget 2023 we also secured additional funding of €32.2m to build capacity for up to an additional 4,125 students.
Funding of 37m for Central Pay Agreement Provision (Existing Building Momentum Deal) is a separate allocation towards the referenced costs across my Department's expenditure programmes. Full details on the allocation of resources across spending areas will be detailed in the annual Revised Estimates Volume for the Public Service (REV).
Furthermore, as part of the cost of living measures in Budget 2023, we also introduced a once off allocation of €10million to assist with rising operational costs faced by our FET and HE providers in 2022.
This significant allocation of public resources is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to meeting the funding needs of the higher education sector in order to more fully realise its potential in contributing to economic and societal priorities which are central to this country's long-term sustainability.
