A serious dispute has arisen over the salaries paid to various university presidents, according to confidential minutes from NUI Galway seen by The Irish Times.
According to the minutes, the president of NUI Galway, Prof Iognβid ╙ Muircheartaigh, and his senior managers, say the recent decision to award them the same salaries as academics at DCU, NUI Maynooth and the University of Limerick (UL), could cause the college to be seen as a "second-class university". Heads at Trinity College, University College Dublin and University College Cork receive more.
The president says being bracketed with smaller colleges such as DCU and UL could be perceived as a "downgrading" of the university. The pay awards were recently recommended by the Buckley review on higher remuneration in the public sector.
Prof ╙ Muircheartaigh was awarded a 7 per cent increase by the review, pushing his salary up to £102,500 compared to £95,720 previously.
The equivalent posts at Trinity College, UCD and UCC all received bigger rises (from 11 per cent to 17 per cent), with their salaries reaching £112,500.
The review decided to put the NUI Galway president on the same band as DCU, NUI Maynooth and UL heads.
Previously, the NUI Galway post was on the same band as UCC, but on a lower band than Trinity and UCD.
The college has made representations on the issue of salaries for its top managers to the Combined Head of Irish Universities. It is also understood representations have been made to Government representatives.
However, the Department of Finance, while agreeing to implement the Buckley proposals, has refused to reopen the question of pay awards to individual college officers.
In the minutes, taken at a series of recent governing body meetings at NUI Galway, the president and his managers raise serious concerns about the issue.
The president is recorded on May 25th as saying the matter is "important for the long-term strategic development of the university that it not be seen as a second-class university".
The minutes were obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.