Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Finance if he keeps a record of the debt burden of universities in Ireland; if those debts count towards the total sum of national debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12006/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Under the Universities Act, university borrowings must be in accordance with a framework agreed between the universities and the HEA, following consultation by the HEA with the Minister for Education & Skills and the Minister for Finance. There is therefore a Borrowing Framework in place for the university sector and as part of that Framework the universities are required to report annually to the HEA on their borrowings. The HEA monitors these returns to ensure that they are in accordance with the Framework. As Minister for Finance, I am not required to maintain a record of the debts of universities.

Currently, in Ireland's case, the universities do not fall within the definition of General Government. The debts of universities therefore do not count towards the total sum of national debt. To clarify further, the debts of the universities are neither part of national debt nor of gross government debt (the latter being Maastricht debt).