Irish universities welcome budget funding boost

Irish universities have celebrated an increase in core funding announced as part of the government’s 2025 budget, while noting that the rise does not fully close a persistent funding gap.

Under the Funding the Future initiative, core funding will rise by €50 million (£41.7 million) in 2025, with an increase of €150 million expected by 2029. Announced by finance minister Jack Chambers and public expenditure minister Paschal Donohoe, the budget allocates a total of €4.5 billion to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).

The Irish Universities Association (IUA) said it “welcomed” the funding package, stating that the increase in core funding “will enable the universities to invest in the necessary staff and supports to underpin the continued delivery of high-quality graduates for the workforce”.

The IUA noted, however, that the core funding boost does not appear to fully close a previously identified funding gap of €307 million, commenting: “It is important that future budgets address this and that the government commitment is fully delivered.”

“The allocation of €102 million in 2025 to cover government-agreed national pay awards is very welcome, as is the decision to increase this incrementally by €10 million per annum over subsequent years,” the IUA said. “However, it is critical that national pay agreements are fully funded by government. We, therefore, urge government to ensure that the €72 million shortfall in pay budgets in higher education for the current year is fully provided for in the supplementary budget.”

The government also announced measures aimed at reducing financial strain on students. Undergraduates eligible for Ireland’s free fees initiative, which sees DFHERIS cover fees for most full-time students residing in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and UK, typically pay a yearly “student contribution fee” of €3,000. The 2025 budget includes a “one-off” reduction of this fee by €1,000, with a similar once-off reduction of 33 per cent to the equivalent fee for apprentices. Recipients of postgraduate fee contribution grants, meanwhile, will see this grant boosted by €1,000.

Funding for research and higher education will facilitate additional study places in healthcare and veterinary medicine, according to budget documents, while income thresholds for student grant schemes will rise and greater support will be available for students with disabilities.

The budget sees the stipend for PhD candidates funded by Research Ireland rise from €22,000 to €25,000 a year, an increase the government says will “aid Ireland’s response to grand challenges, such as the green and digital transitions, drive world-class research and innovation in Ireland, and support all areas of the economy with highly skilled graduates”.

The rise brings the PhD stipend in line with the figure recommended by a government-commissioned report published in 2023; that report, by Andrea Johnson and David Cagney, advised that researchers receive the increased stipend “no later than 1 January 2024”.

Claudia Peroni, president of the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation (PWO), told Times Higher Education that the rise came “too little, too late”. While the €25,000 stipend would “undoubtedly improve the conditions of many PhD researchers across Ireland”, she said, only a minority of candidates across the country are funded by Research Ireland; all others “remain on varying and unequal stipends, none of which are adequate”.

Noting that the broader budget includes an increase of the minimum wage to €13.50 per hour, Ms Peroni commented: “This is a welcome development that the PWO absolutely supports, but it further highlights how PhD researchers are being left even more behind, while other workers are being protected in the face of increasing costs of living. Even the proposed €25,000 stipends would still be below minimum wage.”

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com