Universities dismayed over education budget

The proposed 2019 education budget, released on 9 October, has brought a lukewarm response from universities who said it would only allow them to “tread water”.

Under the 2019 budget, education in total will receive €10.8 billion, a 7 per cent increase on this year. This will pay for bringing 1,300 more school teachers into the system and provide 3,500 extra university places, according to the higher education department.

But this commitment is not large enough, according to the Irish Universities Association, which said it would do little to close the country’s gap in higher education spending. The increase, which translates into €675m more, would only help universities tread water, but not make any actual gains, it said.