February NUI Galway President Welcomes Council Motion on Support for HE Sector

NUI Galway President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh has welcomed a motion by Galway City Council and its elected body to recognise the need for investment in third level education given the continuing increase in demand for third level education.

The motion passed on Monday 4^th February stated:

• Act on the recommendations of the Cassells Report published in 2016 which sets out clear options for the sustainable funding of third level education;
• Provide the necessary investment in the next Budget (2020) to substantially increase the core funding per student which has fallen by almost half in ten years.

The Council reported: “We recognise and assert that our third level graduates are an essential ingredient of economic growth and, unless investment in third level is increased, we will damage the future competitiveness of the Irish economy and of our society as a whole.”

Professor Ó hÓgartaigh said: “We are grateful for this motion and for this recognition from the Council that the University is a major contributor to the city and that investment in third level is critical to our collective future.

 “The numbers at third level nationally have increased more than seven-fold since the late 60s from less than 25,000 students attending third-level in 1969 to over 181,000 students now. The reach and reputation of our research has also increased immeasurably over that time. If society believes education and third level education in particular is a good thing then we need to find a way to pay for it” he added.