Irish university officials to meet education authority amidst scrutiny over €5m overpayments

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) will meet individual staff members responsible for particular portfolios at University of Limerick (UL) when it is on campus later this month.

It comes as the acting president of the college, Prof Shane Kilcommins has pledged to be "utterly candid" when UL executives appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

UL is in front of the Dail committee in relation to the overpayment of around €5m for homes it bought in Rhebogue for post-graduate students.

This was just months after a €1.5m overspend on the purchase of the former Dunnes Stores building in the city centre.

In an email to the college community this Friday, he confirmed that the matters which have arisen will be "interrogated thoroughly".

"In the interim, this institution will continue to function and I respectfully ask for your support and forbearance as we engage on these matters," wrote Prof Kilcommins.

He acknowledged there will be "difficult weeks" ahead for UL, with HEA representatives on campus between April 23 and 25 next.

"We intend to make it clear to the PAC that we will make ourselves available and that we will be utterly candid in our engagements with their questions," he confirmed.

Prof Kilcommins wrote of how the overpayments at the city centre campus and in Rhebogue will turn a €7.5m surplus into a €700,000 deficit for the college in next year's accounts.

College president Prof Kerstin Mey has gone on sick leave since the news of the latest overspend emerged - and has declared herself "incapacitated" for the time being to appear before PAC - but hopes to attend later in the college term.

Its chancellor Brigid Laffan confirmed to students and staff at a meeting last week that the deputy president Prof Kilcommins will take on her responsibilities while she is unavailable.

UL executives were scheduled to appear in front of the committee on Thursday next week, but it's now unclear whether that will happen in the president's absence.

Limerick Live could not get official confirmation at time of publication this Friday morning.

In his email this Friday, Prof Kilcommins wrote: "We are engaging with the secretariat of the PAC regarding a hearing date. We intend to make it clear to the PAC that we will make ourselves available and that we will be utterly candid in our engagements with their questions."

He added: "Clearly it is essential that we also think long and hard about how decisions are made, how we communicate and how we improve our culture throughout the organisation."

"Achieving cultural change will take time but it is absolutely clear that this must be a priority. We know from the survey carried out by Unite that there are issues that must be addressed, and I will be contacting the lead representatives about how we begin this important work," he added in the email.

He praised the university community, describing them as "incredibly resourceful and resilient".

"We ask that you accept that we will do everything in our power to work to restore trust and confidence with our stakeholders and with all of you," the acting president concluded.