The University of Limerick is to take a “zero tolerance” approach to any staff member who damages its reputation and says any further scandal would be “utterly disastrous” for the institution.
The university’s chancellor Professor Brigid Laffan is to tell the Dáil Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that two notorious property transactions, which cost over €8m more than expected, “did not occur in a vacuum”.
How those two transactions — to acquire the former Dunnes Stores building in Limerick in 2019 and to purchase 20 homes at Rhebogue in 2022 — could occur in quick succession despite a change in leadership at the university, “is not an easy question” to answer, Ms Laffan will say.
She will add, however, the many reviews produced about those failings show “structural deficiencies in our systems of governance, but culture has also played an important part”.
To that end, and notwithstanding an ongoing Section 64 review of the university being undertaken by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), UL’s governing authority is proposing four actions:
- The establishment of a transformation programme at the institution;
- A change in UL’s “tone from the top”;
- The addressing of the structural weaknesses and policy failings on campus;
- And the need to “strengthen considerably the university’s second and third lines of defence”.
That final action is a reference to the manner in which protocols were bypassed to secure both property transactions, and in which those who questioned those acquisitions were sidelined.
In a briefing document for the PAC, the university noted that “up until recently the dynamic within the executive committee was not good”, and this had resulted from the fact “certain members had raised concerns about clear deficiencies in due diligence which had come to light concerning Rhebogue”.
Despite this, it had become clear UL was likely to face a second impairment of €5.2m on the back of that transaction, and this “would be received very badly by the university community, by the HEA, and of course by the PAC”.
The university expressed its desire to “place on the record that we accept and are deeply sorry” for the governance failings outlined in a recent Comptroller & Auditor General’s report into the two transactions, adding the issues at the executive committee “are now resolved” on foot of “recent leadership changes”.
Last June, the university’s president of four years Kerstin Mey resigned from the role after an extended period of sick leave, and returned to her role as a tenured professor at the university. A permanent successor has yet to be appointed.
The document further notes the university has, on foot of the massive Rhebogue impairment charge, provided information to An Garda Síochána regarding the transaction, but whether or not the matter proceeds to a full investigation is a matter for the gardaí.
Prof Laffan will tell the PAC that going forward there will be “a strong approach to accountability” at the university, on “where there is zero tolerance for policy deviation, and for actions that cause reputational damage”.
“Any further lapses in governance would be utterly disastrous for UL’s recovery, and, on my watch, it will not happen,” she will say.
