I have written about this before, but just to clear up what has happened in the Irish Universities in the way they are funded.
In 1994, I think, Gemma Hussey abandoned the direct funding of the universities by those who go to college.  The universities now no longer get funded in this way.  So, how do they get funded?
Well, they have a registration fee.  This is about 800 Euro and every single student pays these.  They are not subsidised.  Previously, about 60% of students were in receipt of grants (partial or full).  Now, there are no fees, but there is a significant registration fee.  The previous system was better.  Fees were paid by those who could afford them.  I paid fees of 1,600 Ponds per year.  Money well spent.
Next, there is the government subvention.  This is based in some way on the number of students in the university, the kind of course, etc.  This will account for about 30% of the total income of a university.  
The rest is from research grants, alumni associations, fundraising events, etc.
The consequence of this is that universities are tempted to pack lecture theatres, to get staff to teach much more than previously (which impacts on post-graduate research students), to build the cheapest possible buildings and to divert some of their funding into fund-raising, rather than their core activities.  Thankfully there are a few wealthy people that occasionally give us some money - J.P. McManus just gave Maynooth 2 Million for our golf scholarship programme.
However, we are definitely slipping.  We are running to stay still.  Instead of trying to be the institutions that are supporting the knowledge society, we are simply trying to provide a service and get students through.
While that situation continues, we will fail to innovate at a rate that is needed.  We will fail to produce students that will innovate, simply because we don’t have the time to give them and we don’t have the high-end resources that they need.
That’s what I think anyway.

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