THE SEVEN universities have paid close to €900,000 in fees to employers’ group Ibec over the past four years.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the universities paid fees totalling €244, 770 in 2008. Total fees paid by the university sector were €184,000 in 2005, €214,000 in 2006 and €230,000 in 2007.
One university, NUI Galway, paid a fee of €55,952 to Ibec in 2008. Other colleges also paid hefty fees. UCC paid €33,680 in fees in 2008. The University of Limerick paid fees of €34,496 in the same year. UCD paid fees totalling €54,477 in 2007. In recent months UL and UCC have cancelled their subscriptions to Ibec.
The payments will raise concern at a time when many universities are in debt. Between them, UCD and UCC have accumulated debts of more than €20 million. The University of Limerick has debts of €3 million.
Last night, the Irish Federation of University Teachers which represents lecturing staff, criticised the payments. Its general secretary, Mike Jennings, said “taxpayers’ money was being handed over with no preconditions to a right-wing partisan group” at a time when services and facilities were being cut in the university sector.
But a spokesman for the Irish Universities Association (IUA), representing the presidents, defended the spending. He said the payments give the universities access to Ibec’s advisory and support services in human resources and industrial relations.
News of the payments comes as the Government considers proposals to clampdown on services and facilities provided to trade unions representing staff in the public service.
The federation accused the universities of making exceptionally large payments for a very poor return. Mr Jennings said it was difficult to justify this spending when each university had a well-staffed human resource department and when the colleges were spending huge sums on lawyers’ fees in industrial relations cases.
In 2008, UCC spent €900,000 on legal fees on industrial relations issues, while TCD spent €480,00. DCU spent €476,500 on legal fees in 2007.
The IUA said Ibec also provides the services of its in-house solicitors to advise on relevant employment-related matters. The legal services provided include representation at industrial relations forums such as the Rights Commissioners and the Labour Court.