Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their detailed presentation. They said they moved from an overall surplus of €40.8 million in 2008 to a deficit of €2.7 million in 2014-15. Like others I read the recent Higher Education Authority, HEA, review which shows six ITs under immediate financial pressure. What would the biggest deficit in any one IT be? Is it able to pay bills as they fall due? If not, what are the implications of that? How is it currently funded from a cashflow perspective? Would increased funding be sucked into paying deficits like this? They mentioned that reserves fell from €132.5 million to €78.7 million, wiping out 40% of finance available to underpin ongoing sustainability. What exactly does that mean? Can the witnesses elaborate on that? What are their target reserves? In the recent HEA report there is a reference to human resources flexibility, is that part-time lecturers to save on costs or what is it? If that is the case, have any of these lecturers acquired employment rights over this period and if so what has been done to regularise that and what are the financial implications of that?