Third Level: The Government has been accused of "ripping up and rejecting" the OECD report on third-level education.
In a strongly worded response to the Estimates, the UCD president, Dr Hugh Brady, said the university sector had been left "floundering in both financial and morale terms".
The seven university heads have also expressed their unease. In a statement on their behalf, Dr Gerry Wrixon, UCC president, said the 6 per cent increase in current spending for 2005 represented an effective 3 per cent cut.
The universities - which saw an effective cut of 14 per cent in funding over the past two years - are furious because the landmark OECD report demanded a quantum leap in funding.
The report, the first comprehensive review of the sector in a quarter-century, cast doubt on the ability of Irish colleges to compete internationally without vastly improved funding.
It proposed the return of fees, but the Government insists this is off the political agenda for the foreseeable future.
It sees a vital role for "world-class" Irish universities in the drive towards a knowledge society. But the universities say there is a "disconnect" between this rhetoric and the reality on the ground, where staff and students are struggling to cope with reduced services.
The poor international standing of Irish universities was underlined this week when only Trinity College Dublin featured in the Times Higher Education survey of the world's top 200 colleges. TCD came 87th.
It was the only Irish college to be well placed in a survey of the top 500 universities compiled by Jiao Tong University in Shanghai earlier this year.
Dr Brady said: "I am bitterly disappointed . . . Instead of the deep investment called for by the OECD report we are left floundering in both financial and morale terms.
"The lack of any real investment in higher education by the Government is tantamount to ripping up and rejecting the OECD report, the Enterprise Strategy report and a plethora of other recent Government-commissioned reports and policy documents." He said UCD and other universities were "battling to provide Irish students with quality education that compares with the best in Europe.
"But we need the Government to acknowledge the reforms and priorities we are endeavouring to achieve through firm and tangible support."
Dr Wrixon said the Estimates would mean more cutbacks in the quantity and quality of services. The further degradation of services would worsen Irish universities already mediocre in international standing and competitiveness, he said.
The university heads said the OECD report "does not seem to have penetrated the blinkered, expenditure-control mindset that drove the Estimates process".
The council of directors of the Institutes of Technology said the seven per cent increase in funding will "barely allow existing activities to continue and makes no provision for spending on strategic projects".
