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University of Limerick faces threat to funding after botched housing project

UL president Prof Kerstin Mey asked to consider position after project that overpaid €5.2 million for 20 homes

Ten of the 13 members of the UL executive committee have said they 'do not consider it is in the best interests' of the university for Prof Kerstin Mey to continue as president. Photograph: Sean Curtin/True Media

Arthur Beesley
Wed Mar 27 2024 - 06:00

University of Limerick (UL) is facing a potential threat to its capital funding from the State after a botched student housing project in which it overpaid €5.2 million for 20 homes.

The breakdown in financial controls has raised sharp questions over the future of UL president Prof Kerstin Mey, with senior university figures calling on her to consider her position.

Ten of the 13 members of the UL executive committee, which is chaired by Prof Mey, have said they “do not consider it is in the best interests of the University of Limerick for you to continue as president”.

Amid deep disquiet in the Coalition at the overpayment, UL is being urged to immediately take decisive action to assert order in the university or face an intervention by the Higher Education Authority.

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The authority, which oversees the third-level sector, is understood to be considering two options.

One is for it to make the case that it does not have confidence in UL’s capacity to manage capital projects, a development that would make it very difficult for the State to provide the university money for long-term investment in buildings and infrastructure.

[ Analysis: Why University of Limerick could face intervention by education authority ]

Another possible move is to send a designated external official into UL with a HEA mandate to clean up and impose order on the university’s financial and management controls.

Such measures are within the powers of the HEA. Under a law enacted in 2022, the HEA has the right to appoint a “person or persons” to “provide advice or assistance of a specialist nature” to a body it funds.

The HEA also has the right to issue guidance to a funded body “regarding a particular matter or matters relating to funding”. It can also issue “an admonishment or censure in writing” in relation to an issue.

“This is going on too long,” said a source with knowledge of the discussion in Government circles. “They have failed to learn their lessons.”

Both the HEA and UL declined to comment. “There is no comment from the HEA,” the authority said.

There has been no public comment from Prof Mey.

In an email last week to 2,000 staff, Prof Mey said the university “paid significantly above market price” for student housing at Rhebogue, about 3km from the university campus, describing the issue as a “major concern” in terms of management, governance and reputation.

The bungled housing deal comes only two months after UL said it will take a €3 million charge for overspending five years ago on a former Dunnes Stores site in Limerick city.

[ Student accommodation crisis: ‘Instead of being a junk press, a single mattress was put in… I was living there’ ]

The university’s response to the affair will be discussed at a meeting of its governing authority on Thursday.

Prof Mey was the first woman to lead an Irish university when she was appointed on an interim basis in 2020. The appointment was formalised for a 10-year term the next year.

Arthur Beesley

Arthur Beesley

Arthur Beesley is Current Affairs Editor of The Irish Times

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