Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 224, 225 and 227 of 31 January 2012, when a reply will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12373/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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As previously advised, the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available within my Department. I requested the HEA, at the time, to contact the seven universities with a view to obtaining as much information as is possible. This information, where available, has been forwarded to the Deputy. However, it should be noted that given differences between the various university management and financial information systems, it is difficult to collect consistent and comparable data.

Details, as requested, on rental costs and travel expenses incurred by the seven universities in 2010 and 2011 have also been forwarded to the Deputy. I have also forwarded copies of each university's travel policy. It has not been possible to disaggregate travel costs incurred within the EU and outside the EU.

In relation to question 224, my Department does not provide an allocation to universities for hospitality and entertainment. The Higher Education Authority allocates an annual core recurrent grant to each institution and it is a matter for the institution to determine how this funding is allocated internally. I have also been informed by the HEA that information on expenditure of this nature by the universities is not readily available and that the level of information requested by the Deputy would require a very substantial amount of administrative time to identify and extract the full range of details sought.