We’re calling on the new government to deliver on the promises of Budget 2025 and to #InvestInHigherEd
We urged all newly elected TDs and Senators to support our key priorities:
This campaign aimed to amplify the key points from the IUA General Election manifesto. We now turn from the election to the newly formed Government, encouraging them to #InvestInHigherEd.
5 Big Priorities for Future Talent and Innovation:
Provide an enhanced student experience, with more and better supports for students, by:
1. Delivering in full the Funding the Future commitment to close the €307m per annum gap in core funding and ensuring that government-controlled pay awards and cost inflation are fully funded. This will enable universities to bring student-staff ratios into line with the EU27 average of 17:1.
Build the national research and innovation capacity, so vital for economic growth, by:
2. Creating a new Research Infrastructure & Talent Development Fund (RITDF) of not less than €100m p.a. to drive research and innovation and to support research students. The last PRTLI fund for R&I expired in 2015.
Help deliver the National Climate Action Plan by:
3. Investing €475m over the next 5 years to enable universities to ‘lead by example’ in reducing the carbon emissions of campuses by 51% by 2030 – as outlined in IUA’s detailed proposal to government.
Ensure that talent and innovation are prioritised in our knowledge economy by:
4. Introducing new measures to utilise the National Training Fund, now with a surplus of €1.5bn+, to address current and future skills needs.
5. Retaining DFHERIS, the Dept. of Further, Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science, with a full Cabinet Minister, to ensure that higher education and research remains a top priority to support investment and competitiveness.