ALMOST 3,000 staff members at UCC are being asked to work without pay for one week, as the financial crisis at the university deepens. The senior management team at UCC has already agreed to the move.
UCC has a €16 million gap between income and expenditure this year; it also has accumulated debts of almost €13 million.
The proposal – tabled by UCC president Dr Michael Murphy – is the most radical cost- cutting move taken by any university. At present, more than 76 per cent of UCC’s total budget is spent on pay.
In a staff briefing Dr Murphy warned: “Every week of delayed decisions increases the scale of the interventions that have to be made.’’
Cost-cutting measures are under examination in all seven universities. UCD has a cumulative deficit of €20 million.
In recent weeks, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has told colleges they will not be allowed to run current deficits. The higher education sector is also struggling to cope with cutbacks announced in last week’s revised estimates. These are on top of cuts in both current and capital spending imposed in last year’s budget.
In his briefing, Dr Murphy said a decision to forgo one week’s pay would “send out a strong message of solidarity with our families, friends and neighbours in the private sector and would certainly exhibit UCC’s capacity to demonstrate leadership. We, on the university management team, have already committed to do this, ourselves,’’ he said.
He stressed that, if implemented, the pay cut would be a once-off and would not set a precedent for next year. He said: “We must also remember that in UCC and in the public service generally, we enjoy enviable job security.’’
UCC has substantial borrowings and overdrafts rather than cash reserves.