More private funding must be sought by Irish universities to alleviate immediate budget pressures, a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report to be published in September will claim.
The report is likely to draw further attention to the financial difficulties facing third-level institutions and universities. A forthcoming OECD review of higher education will claim new funding sources are necessary to avert a budget crisis according to a report in today's Irish Times.
The perception that universities are sitting on large cash reserves is false, HEA chief executive Mr Tom Boland told ireland.comtoday. There is no money to cover costs if funding is cut back, he said.
The report will identify private funding as the key driver for increasing revenue.
The HEA, the funding authority for universities and other higher education institutions, "needs more resources, but in reality it is unlikely to get all it needs . . . universities are going to have to become better at getting private funding," said Mr Boland.
He said charging fees to students was not an option: "The Government has already stated there will be no new fees, and that is the end of the matter."
Asked about the usefulness of registration fees, he said such fees were "relatively low" and represented only a "limited source" of funding.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) last week demanded the abolition of those registration fees, which USI president Ben Archibald called a "backdoor" way to introduce student fees.
The HEA's report is with the Department of Education and will be published in early September, said Mr Boland.