Accountability for Kieran Byrne?

beegirl

Does anyone else think it's a bit strange that this story was in local news nearly two years ago, but only recently became national news? It was in the papers a few weeks ago and discussed on Ray Darcy at the time (so I heard) and then in papers again today - was just listening to Matt Cooper talk about it there... I wonder if the media powers-that-be were running out of public sector bashing stories and dug it up?? Or is it someone trying to mess with Kieran Byrne getting his contract renewed (which is also happening today apparently!)

Anyway... Shocking stuff about the amount spent on taxis and hospitality :eek: The most worrying part is the €3 million on "other expenses" (or was it "sundries", can't remember the exact wording) - the TUI have been saying that for years - on one hand they say they can't afford to run modules because they can't afford to pay lecturers and need to cut was it 4/5 million from the payroll, while at the same time spending €3 million on "other expenses" :rolleyes:

I'm sure that €3 million can't all be blamed on the director of course but it sounds like he didn't do himself any favours by completely denying that anything had been done wrong - in fairness, who on earth could try to justify taxis from Waterford to Dublin??? What, he can't take the train/bus with the rest of the unwashed masses? Or learn to drive perhaps??

Sully

This keeps coming up, but dies down. Its like someone is trying to force it into national media and brought it back up, again, to damage his contract renewal.

Taxis, well it partly makes sense but what I don't get is - how is it not more expensive then staying in Dublin? Someone on thejournal.ie worked it out at over €200 a journey in a taxi. A hotel wouldn't be that expensive surely?

Hospitality - I know some of that included paying for the food, I think it was around €500, at a WIT Society debate on cannabis (was it? Alan Shatter or someone chaired that event). Guests would be given food on their arrival. Not sure what else goes under this.

Trains wouldn't work, conferences are held at night. Buses are a possibility.

The TUI want more money and give out about Byrne. But its a separate pot of money and would not be getting a chunk of it unless reforms at Dept. of Education level allocate funding in that direction. The only issue here is whether it was appropriately spent. The rest, is bandwagon jumping.

SupportWIT

I am a past student of WIT and I am very proud of it, the medias reporting on this disgusts me, some paper reported spending of €500 on a plasma screen, how much should they cost, sounds cheap to me

I have setup a support Professor Kieran Byrne page on Facebook, please support it and hopefully it's not too late

The college is a fantastic Institute and everybody should be proud of it and thank those who made it possible

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Professor-Kieran-Byrne/173565986033042

MitchKoobski

SupportWIT wrote: »

I am a past student of WIT and I am very proud of it, the medias reporting on this disgusts me, some paper reported spending of €500 on a plasma screen, how much should they cost, sounds cheap to me

I have setup a support Professor Kieran Byrne page on Facebook, please support it and hopefully it's not too late

The college is a fantastic Institute and everybody should be proud of it and thank those who made it possible

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Professor-Kieran-Byrne/173565986033042

This is to do with Kieran Byrne's spending, not the college. Stop trying to defend them as if they're the same thing.

SupportWIT

How do you know what he spent other than what you read in the paper,
What I know is what he has done for the college because it is there for all to see
If you go on the figures in the Examiner last week the cost of his office, which by the way is the office of the President of one or the largest IT's in the country, is 0.33% of the overall cost of the building.

Also you must consider the people who would be in the office are people who may like to invest in the college in the future

Sully

I remember when this first came up, a lot of students backed him when it was explained and broken down. The president is generally well liked, and people expect a high cost associated with him. I remember when I was in his office, I wouldn't have said all the money was poured into that. A lot of that money was spent on the college - not just his office.

Don't mind those short articles, there a tad misleading if you take them at face value.

brendansmith

SupportWIT wrote: »

I am a past student of WIT and I am very proud of it, the medias reporting on this disgusts me, some paper reported spending of €500 on a plasma screen, how much should they cost, sounds cheap to me

I have setup a support Professor Kieran Byrne page on Facebook, please support it and hopefully it's not too late

The college is a fantastic Institute and everybody should be proud of it and thank those who made it possible

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Professor-Kieran-Byrne/173565986033042

beegirl

Sully wrote: »

Its like someone is trying to force it into national media and brought it back up, again, to damage his contract renewal.

Looks like it worked, apparently his contract as president is not being renewed :eek: He can still stay on at WIT in another management position though, as would have been the case anyway...

Sully

Yeah I heard that this morning. I'm not sure if its permanent, or waiting based on the investigation results.

MitchKoobski

Anyone see the expenses for taxis? Holy jeebus.

mike65

Embarrassing stuff. "bring me my carriage!"

THE PRESIDENT’S Office at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) spent more than €6,000 on taxis during a four-week period in 2008, according to information released under the Freedom of Information Act.

A 107-page document released this week gives details of spending on hospitality, including a €3,272 bill for the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin and another for €2,611 for the Merrion Hotel, Dublin.

While more than €290,000 was spent on hospitality since 2004, a large number of expense items are listed as “hospitality expenses”, with no other details given. Other substantial hospitality claims, many for over €1,000, are listed only as “trade creditor sundry”.

Most taxi expenses are paid to a Waterford couple listed as Martin and Eleanor Power. Virtually all of the 100-odd pages in the institute’s expenses files carries a payment to Power Taxis. In April 2008, the service was paid €3,080 by WIT. A further payment of €3,130 was made one month later.

The president of the institute, Prof Kieran Byrne, a non-driver, has defended the €100,000 spent on taxi services as good value for money when compared with the cost of potential mileage claims.

wobbles

This has made my day. We had to do without one of the most important electives in my final year because they couldnt 'afford' a lecturer to teach us the subject.

How he can claim it as good value is a complete and utter joke. 100,000 would buy him a car and run it for years. Absolute disgrace. Looking forward to see what else comes out about about him.

WIT board refuses to extend term of president

THE BOARD of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) has refused to extend the term of its president Prof Kieran Byrne, amid growing controversy about expenses claimed by his office.

The move came after interventions from Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn and chief executive of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) Tom Boland. While neither can intervene directly in the appointments process, both signalled that Prof Byrne’s position had become untenable.

Yesterday’s unanimous decision by the board could be legally challenged by Prof Byrne whose 10- year term as president expires today. Earlier this year, he was nominated by a selection committee for a further term of office but the board refused to confirm the appointment at its meeting yesterday.

The €156,000-per-year post as president will be re-advertised and an interim president appointed.

In recent days, pressure has been exerted on Prof Byrne to withdraw his application for an extension after the revelations about the expenses incurred by his office. Sources say senior education figures asked him to reflect on his position at personal meetings and in phone conversations this week, but he refused to step down.

In any legal challenge, he could argue that he had a legitimate expectation to gain the post for a further term. He still has the option of accepting a €120,000 per year “step-back’’ post – available to retiring presidents in the institutes – but he is thought to have ruled out this option.

Prof Byrne – who was unavailable for comment last night – told The Irish Times earlier this week the expenses incurred by his office represented good value for money.

Last night, local Independent TD John Halligan described the spending as “extravagant and completely inappropriate’’ at a time when teachers and parents were struggling with education cutbacks.

The HEA has asked for a report on the expenses controversy. A separate report – commissioned by the institute last week from the consultants Deloitte – is also being finalised.

The expenses controversy is a setback for WIT, which has run a decade-long campaign for university status.

The high level of spending by the president’s office comes at a time when the college is running a deficit of over €3 million.

Chochese

Looks like he's going gone, according to today's Indo

...and he may not be a real Professor, after all! :rolleyes:

Cabaal

Expenses of the president’s office between 2004 and this year include: taxis and couriers (€139,977); fine art (€134,009); publicity and advertising (€773,234); sundry costs (€3.17 million) and professional fees (€607,374).

Good god thats insane money in general and crazy money on taxi's

longshanks

Heard about this on The Last Word yesterday. Its nothing short of disgraceful when you consider what that money could have been used for.

MitchKoobski

I was sittin in on the course board meeting for my course the week we came back in 2009. Department head had to apologise to all of us that due to budget cuts we had to basically take whatever lecturers we could, and would actually have to postpone some classes due to budget cuts.


Gladh hes gone.

ziedth

Have to agree, that is shocking. I'm not even sure has it been fixed by now but the campus had no childcare facilities meaning some parents couldn't go to class (I'm not a parent I just found it bad) when I was in college and all the while this kind of **** was going on.

jonnyfingers

You should see the office he had put in for himself. Private shower, bar, etc. Very swanky.

In fact I call him the 'smarmiest man', just look at any photos of him to know why! He rarely smiles, just purses his lips.

BlogMan1234

Where have we heard this type of thing before??...FAS...charlie haughy...paudie flynn...john o donaghue...etc etc....the saga of top public sector squeezing the coffers of this little country... Their air of entitlement and privilege, smugness and condescension is sick and has to be stopped once and for all...as morgan kelly notes these top brass in 3rd level are earning twice what their equals are getting in europe... and we're in recievership! what a sick, corrupt little country!

Sully

Mod Note

Its a topic concerning WIT, so ill merge it with the existing thread in the WIT Forum folks..

Cheers!

Sully

Cabaal wrote: »

Good god thats insane money in general and crazy money on taxi's

I knew I was in the wrong business anyway

brian plank

i heard from a reliable source that he never wears the same pair of runners twice. considering he only wears nike air max classics, thats 110-120 euro a day :eek:

ridiculous when you consider theres people struggling just to attend college. :mad:

deisebhoy17

I often wondered where my registration fee went! Now I know.....

No denying we have a state of the art facility in Waterford now which is worth so much to the city thanks in no small part to him.

But I dont know how you can excuse these expenses they are completely OTT. Sounds to me like he wanted to be king of the castle rather than being
the president of an educational institution.

The celtic tiger is well and truly gone so the Kieran Byrnes of this world are being found out.

Sully

So Byrne isn't being given the position, following that meeting. Reported amongst numerous articles. The right choice I think as its crazy spending regardless of who it benefited.

Questions need to be asked as to why so much money was allocated and allowed be spent with such high amounts on particular items. I hope the investigation comes out and gives a clearer more detailed insight into the reports shown in the media.

I'm not sure if the TUI were hoping for a bigger slice of the money, with Byrne gone, as I assume its just the standard "you get X, you get Y" and regardless of who the President is -- I assume its not going to be given elsewhere.

Perhaps the report will lead the way to reform within the education sector, preventing such gross spending and ensuring that the right amounts are spent in the right areas.

Again, going from what I heard, he was highly regarded (and I think thats obvious considering the board wanted to give him another term) and apparently brought in a lot of money into the college. Assuming all this is true, I hope that the new president can start on a strong footing and get the WIT message out there benefiting Waterford and the South East - not just in general but for the University campaign.

stick-dan

Personally I see no reason why a salary needs to be in excess of 80k a year for a position when you can claim your expenses. That doesn't make sense. Despite incurring course restrictions and course grouping in my time in WIT, I wouldn't appoint the blame to the outgoing president. Blame the people who allocated such money to him. In no small part he made the college far better than perhaps any other appointment could, is a popular figure and has achieved worldwide recognition for the college. Heavily involved in promoting research in WIT, he'll be sorely missed in that regard. It's unfortunate all the good he done will be overshadowed.

PaddyBloggit

I knew him in his former role as a Head of Education .... I even had him as the Lecturer in charge of my final year project ....

He was always shining after the polish, always wore a scarf and was always more involved with how he looked than anything else.

I didn't put two and two together until I researched his bio on the WIT site ...

The years haven't been kind to him .... he was the Brad Pitt of his day ... far from it now.

He was a smart ass then. He had expensive taste even then.

The wheel has turned. I've no pity for him.

He'll still probably walk into a professorship somewhere any carry on regardless.

Reporter 11

I agree the college has transformed under his term over the past 10 years and is now the best IT in the country.

SupportWIT wrote: »

I am a past student of WIT and I am very proud of it, the medias reporting on this disgusts me, some paper reported spending of €500 on a plasma screen, how much should they cost, sounds cheap to me

I have setup a support Professor Kieran Byrne page on Facebook, please support it and hopefully it's not too late

The college is a fantastic Institute and everybody should be proud of it and thank those who made it possible

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Professor-Kieran-Byrne/173565986033042

Reporter 11

As i read the report he does not seem to have recieved any benfit and all was on WIT business while it seems some costs are excessive.. With regars the TUI lecturers they already recieve €80k plus salaries working 16 to 18 hours per week, and we have 2 no 12 week semesters leaving them 26 weeks for other work and holidays. Morgan O kelly is correct in that he has indicated the academics salary in this country are excessive.

Sully wrote: »

So Byrne isn't being given the position, following that meeting. Reported amongst numerous articles. The right choice I think as its crazy spending regardless of who it benefited.

Questions need to be asked as to why so much money was allocated and allowed be spent with such high amounts on particular items. I hope the investigation comes out and gives a clearer more detailed insight into the reports shown in the media.

I'm not sure if the TUI were hoping for a bigger slice of the money, with Byrne gone, as I assume its just the standard "you get X, you get Y" and regardless of who the President is -- I assume its not going to be given elsewhere.

Perhaps the report will lead the way to reform within the education sector, preventing such gross spending and ensuring that the right amounts are spent in the right areas.

Again, going from what I heard, he was highly regarded (and I think thats obvious considering the board wanted to give him another term) and apparently brought in a lot of money into the college. Assuming all this is true, I hope that the new president can start on a strong footing and get the WIT message out there benefiting Waterford and the South East - not just in general but for the University campaign.

PaddyBloggit

You're deluding yourself if you see that he has done nothing wrong.

Of course he benefitted ..... weren't the 'excesses' for his own offices and his use?

The man has always had expensive tastes. It's only now that it has come back to bite him on the ass.

Reporter 11

Check out lecturer salaries in the region of €80k for working in front of class approx 18 hours per week over 2 semesters of 12 weeks. The president of WIT worked full days for 5 to 7 days and the costs were not expenses paid to him but paid by the institute to suppliers.

stick-dan wrote: »

Personally I see no reason why a salary needs to be in excess of 80k a year for a position when you can claim your expenses. That doesn't make sense. Despite incurring course restrictions and course grouping in my time in WIT, I wouldn't appoint the blame to the outgoing president. Blame the people who allocated such money to him. In no small part he made the college far better than perhaps any other appointment could, is a popular figure and has achieved worldwide recognition for the college. Heavily involved in promoting research in WIT, he'll be sorely missed in that regard. It's unfortunate all the good he done will be overshadowed.