The heads of third-level colleges are bracing themselves for a fresh round of spending cutbacks following a new review ordered by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey.
Under new arrangements, all proposed capital spending plans are to be reviewed. Colleges will have to justify their proposed building projects to a specially established working group; this will decide if they can proceed.
A confidential letter sent on behalf of the Minister to the seven university presidents and 14 directors of the institutes of technology warns that the "most rigorous criteria" will be applied to all submissions. Projects which do not meet the criteria will be deferred or cancelled.
Education sources say the new review is designed to ensure that third-level colleges are no longer free to spend large amounts of public money as they wish. At present, each university makes its own case for building projects to the Higher Education Authority (HEA). Under the new procedures, however, all spending must meet overall national objectives.
The letter from the HEA also casts doubt on the €1.8 billion programme of capital projects planned by the colleges. "It is not clear if this level of provision is necessary or sustainable," it states.
In the letter, the colleges are warned in very stark terms that their current spending plans cannot be justified given the decline in the number of school-leavers and the other pressures on the Exchequer such as health and infrastructure.
They are also asked to consider whether some projects "should now be deferred" or funded by other means, presumably with the help of the private sector.
Colleges have been given a June 27th deadline to submit revised spending plans in which they themselves rank each project in order of importance.
They are asked to assess how each project meets various categories, including health and safety, national priorities such as skills and research, and others such as the need to widen third-level access.
The HEA letter has come as a severe shock to many colleges which are already struggling to cope with spending cutbacks introduced last year.
The funding for capital projects was cut by 25 per cent in the university sector and by 33 per cent in the institutes of technology in December.
The Conference of Heads of Irish Universities has warned that staff cutbacks and/or severe curtailment of services to students may be inevitable as the new spending limits bite.
The new working group, which will assess all projects, will be chaired by Mr Kevin Kelly, the former managing director of AIB and former chairman of the IMI.
Other members include the former provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Tom Mitchell, and Mr Noel Lindsay, former secretary of the Department of Education. The HEA letter confirms the view in the third-level sector that Mr Dempsey is determined, where possible, to divert resources to the primary sector.