“Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will carry out an investigation into the unauthorised payment of €7.5 million in allowances to academics working in Irish third level institutions from 2005–2011; and if he will provide a list of the persons who received unauthorised allowances during that period. [43097/12]
“Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): At the request of my Department the Higher Education Authority (HEA) carried out an investigation, in conjunction with the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG), to determine definitively the quantum of monies in respect of unauthorised payments to senior staff in each of the universities between 2005 and 2011. The investigation identified total excess payments of €7.5 million to senior staff in the universities during that period.
“Having regard to the requirements of data protection regulations it is not appropriate for me to provide a list of the persons who received unauthorised allowances, save to say the recipients were either at the level of President, Professor and equivalent grades, academic medical consultants or senior management positions.”