“The numbers entering the legal profession fell dramatically in 2009, according to the latest figures. According to figures obtained by The Irish Times, the number of new solicitors joining the roll of solicitors between 2008 and 2009 fell by 10 per cent, and the number joining the bar fell by 25 per cent …” (more)
[Carol Coulter, Irish Times, 8 January]
“When Paul Hennigan, president of Point Park University, in Pittsburgh, asked a room full of small-college presidents here whether they were nervous about meeting enrollment targets for the next academic year, the answer was a resounding ‘Yes!’ …” (more)
[Robin Wilson, Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 January]
“The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland wrote down its net assets by €72 million in 2008 – a fall of 44 per cent on the previous year. In its annual report, the RCSI, which is a non-profit organisation, said the decrease was mainly due to the fall in the market values of ‘‘investment properties, an increase in the pension deficit and the operating deficit for the year’ …” (more)
[Susan Mitchell, Sunday Business Post, 3 January]
“A decision to exclude senior civil servants from the brunt of pay cuts announced in the Budget has been criticised as ‘underhand and unjustified’. Their basic salaries have been only marginally reduced because the pay cuts have been calculated on figures that include a bonus scheme that ended early last year, rather than on basic salary …” (more)
[Michael Brennan, Independent, 2 January]
“Higher education policy has become a hot topic in the European press with the ongoing financial crisis and the Bologna reforms putting pressure on university resources, academic staff and students. While the financial crisis means that more people are going into higher education because there are fewer jobs on the market (and some return to education because they have been sacked), universities struggle to meet the needs of an increasing student population …” (more)
[HT: Eoin O'Dell]
[Gaby Mahlberg, The History Woman's Blog, 3 December]
“The number of people employed in the public sector has fallen by 8,200 in the 12 months to last September, according to official figures. Data from the Central Statistics Office also reveals that the average salaries of public sector workers fell by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2009 …” (more)
[Seán McCárthaigh, Irish Examiner, 19 December]
“Staff of University College Cork who agreed to give a week’s wages back to help bosses keep jobs are to have the money repaid. In an email to all staff last week, just hours before Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced wage cuts of 5% to 15% for all public sector workers, UCC president Dr Michael Murphy said the money was being returned and he thanked those who had contributed …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 14 December]
“Letters are sent for many reasons, and thus there are many epistolary genres: e.g., the ‘Dear John’ letter and the ‘I am fine, please send money’ letter, just to cite a couple with which many us are familiar. A new epistolary genre has arisen in response to the ongoing financial crisis, the ‘Dear University’ letter. This is a letter sent to the entire university community by the president to bring us up to date on the current state of the budget crisis and what is being done to cut expenditures in response to revenue reductions …” (more)
[Arnold van der Valk, A Crumbling Ivory Tower?, 6 December]
“Compulsory unpaid leave could disrupt service delivery in health, social services and welfare offices, while the government has doubts it would deliver sufficient savings in the December 9 Budget, according to sources close to the public sector pay talks …” (more)
[Niamh Connolly, Sunday Business Post, 29 November]
“… the report shows that public investment in third level education in Ireland fell from well above average at 1.22% of national income in 2001 to 1.14%, and barely above the 1.12% EU average in 2006. Despite third level bosses’ claims over the past year that services to students are under threat by Government funding cuts, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe insists he needs to reverse some of the 33% increase in third-level funding to €2bn a year since 2000 …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 26 November]
“… Cuts in public expenditure are producing serious university budgets cuts in a number of countries, and as the main cost in higher education is pay, it is clear that as cuts are introduced universities will have little choice but to reduce staffing levels. In Ireland we have the added feature that the so-called ‘employment control framework’ is requiring institutions to cut staff numbers …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 November]
“Having now endured innumerable meetings dealing with budget reductions, I am beginning to realize reluctantly that budget cutting can never be done in a rational way during a budget crisis. If any institution should be able to address its budget problems rationally, you would think that it would be a university. Alas, this is not the case …” (more)
[Arnold van der Valk, A Crumbling Ivory Tower?, 14 November]
“… The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), and Teachers’ Union of Ireland said almost four-to-one backing for strike action reflects members’ anger at the prospect of further pay cuts in next month’s budget. They will be joined in their walkout from schools and colleges by the 2,000-member Irish Federation of University Teachers …” (more)
[Niall Murray and Stephen Rogers, Irish Examiner, 14 November]
“A cut of €100 million in the research budget is being considered by the Government. If implemented, the move would put hundreds of millions of euro in foreign direct investment in jeopardy. Cutbacks at that level would also likely force the closure of at least three major university-based research centres, putting hundreds of research jobs at risk …” (more)
[Dick Ahlstrom, Irish Times, 13 November]
“The financial base of Irish universities is being undermined by decisions on fees and reductions in State funding, Dublin City University president Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski said yesterday. Speaking at a graduation ceremony, Prof von Prondzynski – a long-time critic of the Department of Education – said decision-makers did not appear to understand the role of universities in a modern country …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 10 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]
“A perfect storm is beginning to form around Irish higher education, and conditions are such that the sector will be in very serious trouble over the coming year …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 10 November]
“The €1.3bn pay cut will just be the start of a slimming down of the public service that could see tens of thousands of jobs lost, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has indicated. Mr Cowen admitted his Government hadn’t been fast enough in securing public service reform, but said it had to be achieved now because of the dire state of the public finances …” (more)
[Paul O’Brien, Irish Examiner, 9 November]
“The Civil and Public Service Union (CPSU) says its members will not accept any pay cuts in the upcoming Budget. It follows publication of a private and confidential letter from the head of the Impact union, Peter McLoone, warning that a deal with the Government to avoid pay cuts will result in public sector job losses in the next few years …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 3 November]
“Today’s young people will suffer the biggest long-term effect of the current recession, the Dublin Economics Workshop heard yesterday. David Blanchflower, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, US, said one of the most important acts for the Government would be to refocus on the young to deter youth unemployment …” (more)
[Pamela Duncan, Irish Times, 3 November]
