Management of DkIT appears before a Dáil committee
Dundalk Institute of Technology saw its central funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) cut by 34% between 2007 and 2012 and was no longer able to meet its obligations from 2013 onwards, members of an Oireachtas committee have been told.
Senior staff from DkIT were before the Public Accounts Committee recently - interim president Ann Campbell, VP for finance and corporate affairs, Peter McGrath; HR manager Gerald O’Driscoll; financial manager Marie Madigan and VP of strategic planning, communications and development, Irene McCausland.
The state of the IT’s finances were discussed by TDs, while Ms Campbell answered questioned from politicians. The latest figures put before the PAC show DkIT, at the end of August 2015, had total income for the year of €47.4 million. State grant funding came to €16.3 million, while tuition fee income of €18.7 million included fees paid by the State, totalling €3.6 million and stu- dent contribution income of €10.1 million.
Expenditure in 2015 was €48.7 million, and just under 70% of this was account for by staff costs. The college incurred an operating deficit of €1.3 million. This was the third successive year in which the institute has incurred a debt, and it now had accumulated debt of €3.2 million.
Ms Campbell told TDs it was ‘ important to note the se- vere cuts in funding to higher education as a result of the recession’ and added: ‘At DkIT, HEA funding was reduced by 34% between 2007-2012. The institute managed to maintain a break-even financial position until 2012-13, when an operating deficit of €711,000 occurred.
‘From that point onwards, DkIT was no longer attracting sufficient income to meet its obligations. Funding for apprenticeship blocks, for example, declined by €2.5 million and funding for nursing education reduced by €1.4 million’.
Ms Campbell said a plan agreed with the HEA in 2014 to address the underlying deficit didn’t meet its objectives, but it did provide, the president said, a foundation for savings in 2015-16. A new three year financial plan identified savings of just over €2 million and Ms Campbell said: ‘ The institute is pleased to report its draft accounts show an operating surplus of €127,000 for 2015-16 and current estimates indicate the college will again break even in 2016-17.
The DkIT president was questioned by Meath TD Shane Cassells. He said: ‘Despite the surplus for 2015-16 . . . there will still be an accumulated deficit of €3 million come August’.
Ms Campbell said the college has not been able to reduce the accumulated debt. But, she said, ‘in our new strategic plan, we are particularly targeting growth in the provision of lifelong learning, growth in online provision and ensuring that international student recruitment continues to bring in money for the institute and to grow that area if possible’.
And she outlined how staff costs make up the bulk of what the institute spends its money on. There are around 500 staff at DkIT. Ms Campbell said it is ‘very difficult’ to cut staff costs in ITs as ‘ the majority of staff have permanent contracts or contracts of indefinite duration. So cost savings can only come through retirements and already, certain posts, not all posts, where staff have retired would not be replaced, she added.