The president of University College Cork, Prof Gerry Wrixon, has told staff that UCC is not facing a major financial crisis following concerns raised by a member of the university's governing body last week.
Prof Wrixon took the unusual step yesterday of issuing an open letter to all staff following allegations in a similar open letter by Prof Des Clarke who warned that UCC was seriously in debt with borrowings of €100 million.
Prof Clarke had accused the university authorities of financial mismanagement and said high levels of debt together with concerns about the pension fund meant "UCC is an academic Enron waiting to happen".
Prof Wrixon responded yesterday by saying the university was in a strong position financially and since he had become president in 1999, it had increased its asset base from €185 million to €413 million.
"The increase in the university's assets is reflected in a 20 per cent increase in our land and building stock. This has been funded by a combination of Exchequer funding, borrowing and private sources," said Prof Wrixon.
"The building programme has addressed some of the space deficit in the university while the acquisition of the additional land is vitally important to position UCC to take advantage of the growth opportunities that will exist in the short term as a result of Government policy."
He pointed out that the university was audited annually by both Deloitte and the Comptroller and Auditor General, and that the auditors had consistently confirmed that they are satisfied with its financial viability.
Borrowing levels at UCC which has over 15,000 students, are well within the guidelines set by the Higher Education Authority, he said.
Prof Wrixon also reassured staff in relation to the university's pension fund, saying that it too was subject to annual audit, was registered with the appropriate regulatory authorities and had an independent investment manager and custodian.
He said this ensured the fund was managed "in a completely separate way to the university's own finances and is reported on and audited accordingly".
Prof Clarke, in his letter last week, also expressed concern about what he described as the "bullish" attitude of university authorities, challenging any staff with a grievance to go to court rather than seeking to resolve grievances through less expensive means.
According to Prof Clarke, this approach to resolving disputes had resulted in UCC incurring legal costs of €3.338 million between 2000 and 2005 and he alleged that as a result, UCC's insurance against the costs of litigation had been cancelled by its insurers.
Prof Wrixon responded that it "would appear that Prof Clarke wishes to create a perception that UCC is unique within the Irish university sector in terms of human resource management issues. This is not the case". He said all Irish universities were undergoing rapid change and that the UCC experience was similar to that in other Irish universities.