LOSSES RECORDED BY Technological University (TU) Dublin for 2024 were under-reported by the college by €3.85m to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General in May of this year.

This is revealed in the 2024 annual report for TU Dublin which shows that the University recorded a deficit of €8.22m in the 12 months to the end of August 2024 and this followed a deficit of €8.4m in the prior year.

The combined losses of €16.6m for 2024 and 2023 followed losses of €3.4m in 2022 and in February 2024, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) intervened due to the “the deteriorating financial position” of the University which resulted in TU Dublin submitting a financial recovery plan to the HEA in July of last year.

Now, in their Statement on Internal Control report signed off by TU Dublin President, Dr Deirdre Lillis and Interim Governing Body Chair, Eoin O’Shea in the 2024 annual report, they state that the first draft of the 2024 financial statements was submitted to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General in May of this year, with finalisation of the financial statements reached in September.

They state that the final operating result has been adjusted from the initial draft submitted in May 2025 by approximately €3.85m, “primarily to reflect certain payroll matters identified in the interim”.

The two state that initially TU Dublin was not in a position to meet the draft one submission date of November 30th 2024 for these financial statements due to capacity issues experienced throughout the year.

A note attached to the accounts states that “TU Dublin is working with the HEA to address the steps to be taken in an agreed Financial Recovery Plan to restore the University to an operating surplus in the years ahead”.

TU Dublin was formed in 2019 through the merger of DIT, IT Blanchardstown, and IT Tallaght.

Last year was a tumultuous year at TU Dublin after the HEA intervened due to “serious concerns with the apparent lack of urgency, responsiveness and conduct by the Governing Body to address [its finances] in a timely and constructive manner”.

The following month, the then President of TU Dublin, Prof David FitzPatrick announced that he had resigned and would leave at the end of May and that he would be taking up the role of provost and chief executive of University of Nottingham Malaysia.

The annual report discloses that Prof FitzPatrick received a salary of €175,000 for the portion of the year he served as President and also received €22,500 in holiday pay of €22,500 in lieu of annual leave on departure.

Under the heading of post year events, Dr Lillis and Mr O’Shea state that in October 2024, updated plans were submitted by TU Dublin to the HEA complemented and supported by a risk assessment.

They state that “the HEA responded indicating continued concerns regarding financial reporting, forecasting and governance of the University; and requesting a review of capital projects and a monthly cash flow statement and requesting a pause on capital spending pending the outcome of the capital review”.

They state: “The University continues to provide a monthly cash flow statement to the HEA and to engage with the capital review. In June 2025 the University met with the HEA and agreed on a series of deliverables up to December 2025 to address their concerns.”

TU Dublin has reported to the HEA that the deficits “arise primarily due to a decrease in student numbers and associated tuition fee income”.

The report also discloses that TU Dublin last year paid out €322,720 to external parties to carry out investigations into internal human resource matters – more than a 10 fold increase on the 2023 spend.

The university’s legal spend increased last year more than three fold from €204,228 to €658,821.

TU Dublin educates its 28,500 students across three campuses and its expenditure in 2024 totalled €404.05m while its income amounted to €395.86m.

The spend of €404.05m included staff costs of €224.5m as the number of employees declined by four to 2,615.

Asked if TU Dublin recorded another deficit in the 12 months to the end of August 2025, a spokeswoman for TU Dublin said: “Accounts for the year ending 31st August 2025 are currently in production. We do not comment on accounts until the accounts are fully finalised, audited and certified.”