Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Higher Education Authority, HEA, produced a report some years. It is stated at the end of page 13 that the report of the working group recommended that third level institutions should have between 45 and 60 day's income in cash to enable them to respond to opportunities and risk in many of their day-to-day activities. We accept it is good to have a cash balance. However, the overall figure announced by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his opening remarks this morning and in the first page of his report is that the sector received €1.45 billion in funding from the HEA. We now find the institutions have in excess of €700 million in cash balances, which is 50% of their annual income and appears to be much more than 45 to 60 days income.

It is closer to six months' cashflow sitting in the bank. Maybe the Comptroller and Auditor General might clarify that.