“It was officially entitled ‘The Report of the Special Group on Public Sector Numbers and Expenditure Programmes’, but it was known ubiquitously as An Bord Snip Nua. Published in July 2009, it was filled with politically difficult choices, including significant reform of the public services and the elimination of 17,000 state jobs …” (more)
[Ian Kehoe and John Burke, Sunday Business Post, 29 August]
“… The upshot? The impression is not of a decisive government courageously taking each issue and dealing with it with determination, but instead of an absolute lack of coherency, of doing things which will later be reversed or modified. And I think it’s fair to say that that’s a statement that can be made by anyone who analyses this situation whether in favour of these measures or not …” (more)
[The Cedar Lounge Revolution, 29 January]
“Michael Lowry, the independent TD who supports the government, claims to have saved the Tipperary Institute (TI) from closure. An Bord Snip had recommended that it be ‘disposed of for the benefit of the exchequer’. The TI, which is based in Thurles in Lowry’s Tipperary North constituency, is now likely to be merged with the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT), with no loss of staff or any cut to its budget of about €10m a year …” (more)
[Sarah McInerney, Times, 24 January]
“Once the economy took an overt turn for the worst in 2008, voices that had been mute for almost a decade came forward to question the wisdom of Ireland investing in Research and Development (R&D). As Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) had been established in 2000 as the vehicle to provide the expertise to deliver the funding to ‘make Ireland a world leader in research’ it was inevitable that attention would increasingly focus on its activities and view them as a cost rather than an investment …” (more)
[Frank Gannon’s Blog, 19 January]
“A campaign has been launched to save one of Ireland’s best known institutions, the National University of Ireland (NUI). This follows the Bord Snip Nua report, which claimed abolition would save €3m a year …” (more)
[John Walshe, Independent, 23 December]
“Tipperary Institute faces widespread reform in order to avoid closure. I work in Tipperary Institute as a creative multimedia lecturer. I’ve never worked with such a high percentage of mature students before and it’s for their future success that I hope the institution is able to flex with the demands of austerity. Ireland’s leading austerity pundit, Sean McCarthy, has recommended Tipperary Institute be closed or merged with another third level institution …” (more)
[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View, 29 November]
“Cuts to third-level education will hamper economic recovery, a college head warned yesterday. Dublin City University president Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski slammed money-saving measures proposed by An Bord Snip Nua and claimed learning institutions were key to the country’s escape from recession …” (more)
[Jeananne Craig, Independent, 10 November]
“The Government’s rigid freeze on public sector recruitment will continue for a number of years, a union chief claimed last night. Trade unions were also told that public sector numbers will be cut, but the Government did not spell out any specific figures during talks in Government Buildings yesterday. The talks, taking place against the backdrop of An Bord Snip recommending a 20,000 cut in numbers, are expected to hear more specific details on the Government’s plans today …” (more)
[Aine Kerr, Independent, 4 November]
“Tom Boland, chief executive of the Higher Education Authority, has a fine line to straddle between universities and the State – and with the agency’s fate yet to be decided, his stance is more in question than ever before …” (more)
[Louise Holden, Irish Times, 13 October]
“Even with the greatest number of recent graduates and the highest amount of incoming students in a decade, Tipperary Institute faces real scrutiny by the Irish government. The government has spent more than €100 million on third level education in County Tipperary since 2009. Using just an accountant’s weighing scales, the McCarthy report says the college should be closed and its property sold off. As reported on local radio, in regional newspapers and by several national broadsheets, the locals are outraged …” (more)
[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View, 8 October]
“There is an emerging consensus that all Government departments – including Education – must take their share of the pain during this economic crisis. I don’t agree. What Colm McCarthy and his Bord Snip team have failed to consider is the fact that cuts in expenditure in one area can (and often do) lead to even higher increases in expenditure in others …” (more)
[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 6 October]
“Student numbers will hit the one million mark for the first time next year. The rise will put government finances under severe strain at a time when it is looking for €4bn in savings. New figures reveal that almost one-in-three public servants now work in the education sector …” (more)
[John Walshe, Independent, 25 September]
“Background documents prepared by the Department of Education and the Department of Finance for An Bord Snip provide a fascinating insight into official thinking on education spending. They are essential reading – and a key guide to the future direction of education policy …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 15 September]
“The Government has no option but to cut public sector pay because the country is going bust, the head of An Bord Snip has warned. Colm McCarthy also said some civil and public servants were ‘out of touch with reality’ and a large chunk of the €400 million the Government was borrowing each week was going on their pay …” (more)
[Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner, 10 September]
“… How the third level system is funded is a matter of great debate, the department, in fairness to them, don’t shirk the challenge. The stall is set out early: ‘28% of free fees provision goes directly to families with over €80,000 income’, it says. A further 15% going to families with a six-figure income level, they mention later. ‘Given the disproportionately high representation of those from better off backgrounds in third level, the untargeted free fees spending results in this group being subsidised to an even higher degree by the taxpayer …'” (more)
[Mark Coughlan, Irish Election, 9 September]
“As the holiday period comes to a close, Nama may dominate many dinner table conversations, but among the research community and science-led industry the McCarthy report continues to generate debate. Similar discussions are under way in the corridors of power at the various government departments tasked to develop and finance the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation. The report details €100 million in spending cuts across a range of departments – a 9 per cent reduction in the proposed 2009 State research allocation …” (more)
[Dick Ahlstrom, Irish Times, 31 August]
“In the past seven years Ireland has risen on the international league tables in relation to its performance in scientific research. This achievement is because of increased funding over that period by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the government agency which funds scientific research. The evidence for this can be seen across several internationally accepted measures, notably outputs in terms of discoveries (as measured by publications), patents, spin-out companies and collaborations with multinationals. The investment made to date is working …” (more)
[Luke O’Neill, Irish Times, 18 August]
“It may not have had the phones hopping on Liveline, but comments in the recent report from An Bord Snip Nua about funding basic research surely set the test tubes rattling. In the section on science, technology and innovation (STI), the report recommended that ‘any further STI investment must yield clear economic returns. The evidence adduced to date for the impact of State STI investment on actual economic activity has not been compelling.’ But does taxpayer-funded scientific research in Ireland really deserve to be cast in such a drab light? …” (more)
[Claire O’Connell, Irish Times, 7 August]
“Any decision not to proceed with Dublin Institute of Technology’s €1bn-plus move to Grangegorman in north inner-city Dublin risks condemning the area to ‘further neglect’ and should be resisted, local residents have warned. In a recent letter to Taoiseach Brian Cowen, they note that the Bord Snip Nua report advocated the withdrawal of all current funding to the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA) – about €1.5m – and the amalgamation of Tallaght IT and Blanchardstown IT with DIT …” (more)
[John Downes, Sunday Tribune, 2 August]
“The McCarthy report raises questions about a number of areas of Irish life, not least of which the area that most people who read this blog are involved in, third and fourth level teaching and research. Some of the questions that need to be answered on the back of the report’s recommendations include: (i) Is the target of doubling the number of PhD students graduating from Irish universities from the 2003 base a good one? …” (more)
[Liam Delaney, Geary Behavioural Economics Blog, 22 July]
Ninth Level Ireland 