College of Limerick chancellor Brigid Laffan has briefly handed over the working of the establishment to UL president Kerstin Mey’s deputy after she took sick depart amid turmoil over a botched pupil housing scheme.
Prof Laffan instructed workers and college students on Thursday that the deputy president and provost Shane Kilcommins is “finishing up the enterprise of the college” at govt degree because it confronts fallout from a deal through which it overpaid €5.2 million for 20 houses.
Prof Kilcommins is known to have assumed govt management duties for a fortnight after Prof Mey despatched a sick notice.
Prof Mey has additionally signalled she can not attend an April assembly of the Dáil public accounts committee, drawing comparisons with RTÉ figures who failed to look on the PAC.
Her depart started as UL acquired a report on the deal from Niamh O’Donoghue, former chief of the Division of Social Safety, which is alleged to have reached “damning” conclusions.
The UL governing authority met for a number of hours on Thursday to debate its response to the report, saying afterwards that sure personnel ought to have the chance to make written observations on the findings.
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“It’s a matter of serious remorse that we discover ourselves on this very tough state of affairs,” Prof Laffan stated in a press release.
“It is a crucial matter for me and for the governing authority as a complete. It’s important that the details are established, that measures are taken to make sure that one thing like this by no means occurs once more, and that there’s accountability.”
The authority additionally mentioned calls for from the Increased Training Authority, State supervisor of the third degree sector, for an additional overview of the deal and UL’s “basic tradition and governance”.
The HEA declined to remark publicly, however stated it had issued a “statutory request” for a brand new overview. Such requests could be made if the HEA finds there are “important issues” about an establishment’s governance or efficiency.
The HEA manoeuvre is seen because the “first step” in a collection of regulatory actions to impose strain on UL to deal decisively with the breakdown in monetary controls.
The UL governing authority stated it was “participating carefully and frequently with the HEA to substantiate the phrases of reference for this overview that are anticipated to be finalised shortly”.
Amid mounting uncertainty over Prof Mey’s future, her depart commenced within the week after 10 of the 13 members of the UL’s govt committee issued a letter calling on her to think about her place. Prof Kilcommins was one of many signatories. Prof Mey, herself a member of the committee, has made no touch upon the letter.
Prof Laffan instructed UL workers and college students she was “very disenchanted” to be taught of the housing overspend, which emerged solely at her second governing authority assembly after she took workplace in November.
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UL paid greater than €11 million for 20 houses at Rhebogue, 3km from the campus, however Prof Mey has acknowledged the college “paid considerably above market worth” for causes that stay unclear.
The bungled property deal shouldn’t be UL’s first. The college was already set to take a €3 million cost in its 2022-2023 accounts after overspending 5 years in the past on a former Dunnes Shops website in Limerick for a brand new campus.
Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley, the PAC chairman, stated Prof Mey despatched a “one-line” notice saying she was incapacitated. “No additional rationalization or reasoning was supplied,” Mr Stanley stated, including it was unacceptable to not attend with out “believable” cause. “This non-appearance doesn’t imply that the questions will go away.”
He added: “It has been broadly publicised that sure previous members of the RTÉ board resigned and refused to come back earlier than the general public accounts committee to reply questions on the assorted scandals and misuse of public monies there.”