Increased emphasis on profit-making at Irish universities may negatively impact teaching standards, the annual conference of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has been told.
The current focus on profit margins at universities may also alienate the humanities sector, which should not be expected to yield profit, outgoing president of the union, Breandán Ó Cochlain, told the conference on Saturday.
"If everyone in the universities is supposed to aim for making a profit, what is going to happen to teaching? What is going to happen to the non-scientific disciplines such as the humanities, which cannot be expected to make money? This philosophy of making money at all costs, certainly at the expense of traditional educational targets, even at the expense of cultural and moral values, seems to be becoming the norm."
Delegates outlined their concern that "control has been taken from the academics and given to administrators".
Mr Ó Cochlain stressed the important role the humanities play in Ireland's social cohesion. He also expressed disappointment that just one university degree in the county taught through Irish remains. "We have now arrived at a situation where it is impossible to study through the medium of Irish for any full degree, except business studies at Dublin City University. Where will staff trained in the Irish language come from in the future? I wonder what Patrick Pearse would think of the Ireland of today, a country were most civil servants in the Department of Education cannot speak Irish."
Dr Joe Barry took over as president of the IFUT on Saturday. Mr Ó Cochlain held the post for three years and described the role as "a privilege and pleasure".