The Education Minister Batt O' Keeffe has revealed that he wants to undertake an audit of spending in Irish universities.

Speaking in Cork yesterday, the Minister said that considering the money being invested in third level education he wanted to ensure that the tax payer is getting value for money.

He highlighted how Irish universities say they are not getting enough money despite the fact that since 2005 the government has increased funding at third level by over 25 per cent in addition to the fees collected directly from students for admission.

The Minister said he has already spoken to the Comptroller and Auditor General about undertaking an audit in universities who has also been approached by members of the Public Accounts Committee who also want to know about university spending.

Commenting on the issue the Minister said, " I want to carry out an audit of the third level sector to see how we are doing and where the funds are going. I want to be satisfied I'm getting value for money."

The Minister said he wanted a number of areas examined as part of this audit including a lecturing profile to show how much time the most senior lecturers were spending in lecture halls, how much money is spent on student services and how much funding is earmarked for social inclusion.

Responding to the comments, a spokesperson for the Irish Universities Association (IUA) said, "the IUA welcomes the statement by the Minister for Education, Mr Batt O'Keefe TD, that he is concerned about the need to maintain a high standard of higher education. The universities share this view and are very concerned at the prospect of substantial cutbacks in Exchequer support for higher education and its implications for quality and equity of access. The IUA welcomes any indication on the Minister's part that he is willing to examine how the sector is funded. It is important, however, that any such examination look at both government and private funding together and the appropriate balance between these elements. We look forward to exploring the Minister's reported views with him in the near future."

The Minister's comments came just days after he raised the controversial issue of the reintroduction of third level fees. Speaking yesterday, the Minister maintained his stance on the issue saying that he does see the introduction of some sort of fees in future.

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