Provost Linda Doyle expressed strong support for an opinion piece in the Business Post newspaper, co-authored by the chairs of university governing authorities, including Trinity board chair, Mr Paul Farrell, describing the ‘slow puncture’ of Ireland’s higher education sector.  

In a post on her LinkedIn channel, she noted serious challenges facing Ireland’s universities, including:  

  • 9,000 unfunded additional students in the higher education system 
  • State funding per student now 30 per cent less in real terms than it was in 2008
  • Ireland ranking 36th of 37 OECD countries for State spending on tertiary education 
  • The funding deficit faced by the sector at over €250m a year despite the promises of the government’s Funding the Future policy in 2022. 
  • Underfunding not only carrying an economic risk for Ireland but also eroding our democratic resilience as critical-thinking skills are vital in a world of misinformation, disinformation, populism and polarisation. 

In Budget 2027, the Irish Universities Association is appealing to Government to increase annual core funding by €190 million a year over the next two years and unlock some of the near €2 billion surplus in the National Training Fund, for lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling to future proof our workforce. 

Read the opinion piece in the Business Post. 

Read Linda’s LinkedIn post.