It comes as the university is expected to outline a suite of changes aimed at improving governance, management and accountability following two controversial property deals.
Last month UL was criticised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) for losing more than €8m on the transactions.
These included the 2019 purchase of a former Dunnes Stores building on Honan’s Quay, Limerick, and the €12.58m purchase of 20 houses at Rhebogue, Limerick, near its campus last year. Both were the subject of Sunday Independent investigations.
Reviews found UL overpaid for the properties.
Whistleblowers had raised concerns about the deals, and questions have been asked of how the university previously handled protected disclosures.
UL will meet with the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Thursday with acting president Professor Shane Kilcommins expected to tell TDs of changes being implemented at the university, including a new approach to manage complaints from whistleblowers.
A barrister reviewing protected disclosures has already met with staff who previously raised concerns and the people who oversaw processes around resulting investigations.
Prof Kilcommins is expected to tell the PAC this barrister will complete their work shortly.
“I am deeply sorry for what has happened and for the damage that the Rhebogue houses acquisition has done to UL’s reputation, to morale, and for the restrictions that have now been placed on our institutional independence, which all universities cherish,” he is expected to tell the committee.
Gardaí are examining a potential fraud in relation to the Rhebogue purchase, and a criminal investigation into poison pen letters sent to university officials around the deal is ongoing.
UL has recently been the subject of a Higher Education Authority (HEA) review and UL has committed to accepting its recommendations, and further changes suggested by the C&AG.
UL chancellor, Professor Brigid Laffan, will tell the committee that UL’s governing authority, which she chairs, has proposed “a transformation programme”, with internal procedures and audit processes enhanced.
She is expected to tell TDs “structural deficiencies” and cultural issues played a part in the governance crises around the Dunnes and Rhebogue deals.
A review of cultural issues at the university is the subject of another ongoing review.
Prof Laffan will tell the PAC she expects the HEA will have a direct involvement in “UL’s institutional governance for at least the next few years”.
“UL could not have expected any other outcome given the governance failures, one after the other, that characterised the Honan’s Quay and Rhebogue purchases,” she is expected to say.
“There is a need for deep-rooted cultural change, starting at the top.
“We are addressing this so that poor governance, similar to Honan’s Quay and Rhebogue, will not arise in the future. Any further lapses in governance would be utterly disastrous for UL’s recovery, and, on my watch, it will not happen.”
Former UL president Prof Kerstin Mey resigned from the post earlier this year following the Rhebogue controversy. UL’s chief corporate officer Andrew Flaherty remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of internal processes.
