The Taoiseach and the Minister for Education have intervened in a bitter dispute in which UCD president Dr Hugh Brady stands accused of poaching key personnel from other universities.
In a move which has dismayed the six other university presidents, Dr Brady has been reluctant to sign an agreement, drawn up by the group representing all college heads, which specifically prohibits the poaching of key staff.
In recent weeks, both Bertie Ahern and Mary Hanafin have voiced concerns about what they see as UCD's aggressive policy of seeking to poach key staff from other universities including TCD, NUI Maynooth, DCU and NUI Galway. In a statement to The Irish Times last night Minister for Education Ms Hanafin said: "Poaching of staff is not only damaging nationally but has the potential to damage our international rankings."
The agreement or protocol is necessary, she says, to respect all academic institutions in the country who are competing on an international basis for academic staff.
In a pointed reference to UCD, she said: "If an Irish college succeeds in attracting international academics it is unfair of a second Irish institution to poach them when they arrive in the country . . . Rather than competing on the small stage we should be winning on the international stage."
It is understood Mr Ahern has raised his concern about UCD's approach in informal discussions with individual university presidents.
Despite the pressure from Government, Dr Brady has robustly defended his position, arguing that the draft protocol would be anti-competitive and could lead to a cosy cartel among the universities.
In a statement he says the draft agreement "would inappropriately limit career advancement opportunities for Irish academics and restrict the choice of educational opportunities available to Irish students. It could lead to the development of an anti-competitive cosy cartel and jeopardise Ireland's national strategic goal of establishing a world-class highly competitive R&D [Research and Development] sector."
Dr Brady's approach has been criticised in Government circles where it is seen as undermining attempts to build closer collaboration across the third-level sector.
The protocol, drawn up on behalf of the seven university presidents, allows open public recruitment of staff but specifically prohibits poaching of key personnel.
In recent months, UCD has sought to recruit three international scientific researchers from NUI Maynooth who are in receipt of special funding from Science Foundation Ireland. While the researchers eventually agreed to stay with Maynooth, there is resentment among some university presidents that UCD's actions could have damaged the Kildare college.
In June, UCD successfully recruited the leading nutritionist Prof Michael Gibney and his research team from TCD. In recent months, Trinity has unveiled a series of joint research projects with UCC, Maynooth and Galway but sources say it has no plans for collaboration with UCD.
Dr Brady is unapologetic about his approach, part of his strategy to push UCD into the top 30 universities in Europe. At present, the college is ranked outside the top 200 in the world. The agreement was drawn up by the university presidents in response to concerns raised by the Higher Education Authority - which runs the university sector - in June. A renewed effort to build agreement will be made when university presidents meet next month.
