'Incapacitated' University of Limerick president won't appear before PAC
It is understood that Prof. Mey has been on sick leave from UL as of Wednesday, March 27. The length of that medical certificate is not yet known, with the university declining to comment on Thursday morning. File picture: Sean Curtin/True Media
University of Limerick (UL) president Kerstin Mey has declared herself to be “incapacitated” to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), some three weeks ahead of a scheduled appearance.
Last Friday, March 22, Professor Mey sent two emails, with the first informing the PAC that she was “incapacitated and therefore cannot honour our commitment to attend on 11 April 2024”. She added she would “make every effort to attend at a future date in the current term”. The email was sent at 5.17pm.
The second email, sent at 5.26pm, was sent to the roughly 2,000 staff within UL and stated that the university had overpaid to the tune of more than €5m for 20 houses at Rhebogue, about 2km from the campus, and that the matter was to be investigated.
Ms Mey had been invited to the PAC on February 23 to discuss that same transaction, which saw the 20 houses purchased for student accommodation in August 2022 for €11.4m, with the properties subsequently valued as having been worth just €6.2m.
The nature of the incapacity suffered by Prof. Mey, which caused her to pull out of the PAC appearance 20 days before it was due to take place, is unclear.
It is understood that Prof. Mey has been on sick leave from UL as of Wednesday, March 27. The length of that medical certificate is not yet known, with the university declining to comment on Thursday morning.
The UL hearing is now likely also to be rescheduled given the accounting officer for the university would not be present.
PAC vice-chair Catherine Murphy said the fact that UL has lost multiple millions of euro on a property transaction so soon after a €3m loss was incurred on its purchase of the old Dunnes Stores building in Limerick city is “a serious red flag” and “unforgivable”.
After a week in which some UL staff have declared themselves to have no confidence in Prof. Mey's leadership, PAC member and Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh said that those votes of no confidence “raise serious questions about how tenable her position is”.
Ms Murphy said that the Rhebogue purchase had the potential to cause “huge reputational damage”.
“They would’ve been aware this was not acceptable. The problem with reputational damage is it doesn’t have boundaries, it attaches itself to a whole organisation. It’s unbelievable that we’re in the same territory again, they were well aware of this issue,” she said.
The governing authority of the University of Limerick had a lengthy meeting on Thursday evening to discuss the acquisition of property at Rhebogue.
At that meeting, the governing authority reviewed the findings of an independent factfinding mission into the matter, and determined that "certain University personnel should be afforded the opportunity to review its content".
In a statement issued after the meeting, UL also confirmed it is "engaging closely and regularly" with the HEA, which is due to undertake a review of specific issues in relation to the Rhebogue properties.
The Chancellor of the University of Limerick Professor Brigid Laffan, who had earlier addressed staff, said, "I want nothing more than to help steer this esteemed academic institution that is renowned worldwide for its research and learning, into the future. It is with profound upset and disappointment that instead of dedicating all my energies to that task, I must instead focus on addressing this issue of governance and financial management. It is a matter of significant regret that we find ourselves in this very difficult situation. This is a critical matter for me and for the Governing Authority as a whole. It is essential that the facts are established, that measures are taken to ensure that something like this never happens again, and that there is accountability.
“The reputation of this University is of the utmost importance to me and to my fellow members of the Governing Authority. We take matters of governance, financial management and transparency, extremely seriously and this issue is being dealt with as a matter of the highest possible priority. We will do all that we can to restore the University’s reputation and to rebuild trust with the University community and with all stakeholders. I want to thank the staff of the University and the students for their continued focus on learning and excellence despite the negativity that surrounds them.”
The Higher Education Authority has invoked Section 64 of the 2022 HEA Act and charged UL’s governing authority, ordinarily a non-executive body, with investigating the Rhebogue affair.
The HEA had previously faced sharp criticism about its oversight of governance issues at Ireland’s universities, with its chief executive Alan Wall acknowledging in 2021 that the authority at that point had “very limited powers”.
“The ‘teeth’ of the functions contained within the HEA Act are now in full view,” Mr O Cathasaigh said.
