2015 Press Releases

UCC President calls for zero-VAT rating for student housing

17 Jul 2015
UCC (Photo: Tomas Tyner)

The speech given by Dr Murphy at the official opening of the world-class Beaufort Building also revealed new UCC data on job creation and reflected on cuts in the HE sector and global rankings.

Dr Murphy also called for higher education and research to be prioritised in Ireland's Budget 2016.

Full text of speech made by UCC President Dr Michael Murphy at the ceremony to open UCC’s Beaufort Building:


Taoiseach, County Mayor, Lord Mayor, Commissioner Vella, Ministers Coveney, Howlin, White, Sherlock, Murphy, Members of the Oireachtas and European Parliament, Ambassador Thébault, Director General SFI, CEO HEA, Rear Admiral, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Thar ceann Choláiste na h-Ollscoile, Corcaigh, cuireann sé fíor-áthas orm fáilte a chur romhaibh inniu ag oscailt oifigiúil Áras Beaufort. On behalf of the 23,000 students and staff of University College Cork, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you today to the official opening of this magnificent new research facility, matching the best for marine energy research, anywhere in the world, our new Beaufort Building.

This building embodies the vision, talent, ingenuity and tenacity of our university researchers and in equal measure, wisdom, foresight and courage of our government and public policy makers. Investing in university based research is not the easiest of political decisions. The returns on investment often appear distant, vague in their definition, not reliably predictable and don’t compete well in immediate impact with a new hospital, motorway or factory.

For this reason I want to acknowledge this morning the manner in which our government has sustained investment in university based research, even under the most economically trying circumstances, over the past 5 years; I also acknowledge publicly the part played by Dr. Mark Ferguson and Science Foundation Ireland in promoting the cause of science with the public and with government.  

The arguments to justify research investment here-to-fore have been two-fold; research intensive universities generate better graduates, more creative, equipped with better critical thinking skills and more entrepreneurial; secondly, the findings from research enable the developments of new products and services that sustain new economic activity, though with a relatively long lead-time. These are important points, but a tough-sell to government sorely pressed by other immediate challenges. Hard, reliable evidence of economic and political has been less than we would wish – cause and effect are sometimes difficult to prove beyond all doubt.

However, as we gather today to celebrate government confidence in the potential of our marine economy I highlight very important new data on the societal benefit of science investment, a return that is short-term, high impact and previously undocumented.

I refer to the work published within the past year from the United States by Bruce Weinberg and colleagues in the Journal, Science, and covered extensively in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Weinberg examined the short-term impact of science investment as part of President Obama’s Stimulus package and showed remarkable immediate economic impact. Jobs were created in the building industry, in the businesses of suppliers, in the employment of research staff of all grades, in administrative and technical services, in consultancies. In this US analysis almost 20 % of university research investment was spent in the local county, 20% in the state and the rest nationally. A rich, labour-intensive economic ecosystem was created and sustained. 

Case in point, Beaufort will house 135 staff immediately with spill-over employment impact through local spend on goods and services.  And not all exchequer funding – today every tax euros spent on research at UCC leverages over 30 cents immediately from other sources b- Brussels or business – a figure that is growing rapidly. Spend on science, investment in research capacity creates immediate economic activity, not just medium or long-term returns.

In the wider higher education sector in Ireland, government spending and individual investment (such as tuition fees) generate remarkable returns. The 2013 OECD Report “Education at a Glance” revealed that among member countries Ireland shows one of the highest returns in lifetime earnings for individuals, and in per-capita taxation income for the exchequer, from investment in higher education. The “bang-for-the buck” for Higher Education investment by government or individual is among the highest in the developed world.  

With the next national budget already in gestation with election manifestos being drafted, setting out plans for Ireland’s economic development over the next 5 years – remember higher education and research. Yes, there are demographic challenges to be met at primary and secondary school levels – but recall the bold statement by Nobel Laureate Jim Watson speaking here in Cork some 4 years ago. “In this era, countries will only be as successful as their universities are”. In the past five years we have taken the cuts; 30% less income per student from peak; 15% fewer staff; 10 % more students. Yes, we are doing more with less – and doing so to extraordinary standards. While we have suffered in global ranking systems that are operated by commercial companies using cheap unsophisticated methodologies (often simple surveys) – we should be particularly heartened by the data so far this year. 

In 2015, and unashamedly trumpeting our own UCC data, the news is very positive. In March, the European Commission funded U-Multirank system published data from 1200 universities. Graded from A (very good) to E (weak) under 30 headings – metrics that the EU considers to be important performance characteristics, one university of the 1200 got 21 A grades; two Dutch universities received 20 As; the top performer was Irish, UCC.  Last month, the Leiden ranking system reported on quality of research performance; a key metric was the proportion of university science publications published in the top 1% of global journals (top 1% by impact) over the past three years. UCC ranked 52 globally, 16th in Europe, 1st in Ireland. TCD, NUIG and UCD in that order, also featured in the top 750 universities.  And in January, in the global greenmetrics ranking, UCC placed 2nd of the 400 universities across the world. We were judged on several indices of sustainable campus management (energy, water, waste), and particularly the number and quality of research and teaching programmes devoted to the global sustainability agenda. Beaufort and MAREI contributed significantly to our score.

And, Taoiseach, Ministers we create other jobs.  As we grow our non – EU international student populations, we create 3 jobs for every 7 full fee-paying students we attract here (Three for Seven). UCC is growing this population by 1,000 in the next 3 to 4 years – that’s 400 new jobs in this region. The same calculations can be made for the entire sector. Internationally mobile students are attracted to Ireland by our reputation, grounded primarily on research outputs such as those from this campus – another crucial economic return from investing in science. But we, in the university sector need a little help with this – which will provide substantial net benefit and more jobs. We have to build accommodation – in our case 800 beds. We will only be able to do so in time if we can leverage the private sector to invest. Currently it is uneconomical to build; but we can bridge the gap between cost and economic return if zero-VAT rating for student housing were adopted here - as applied in the UK and already in place in Ireland for social housing.  

This is not tax lost, there is nothing to tax, but foregoing VAT on student accommodation build will allow building, with consequent employment tax and taxes on resultant economic activity. Taoiseach, ni neart gan chur le cheile.

In a moment An Taoiseach will set out the public policy framework under which today’s investment in Marine Research has been made, the national objectives to be met here and celebrate the historic genesis of the project. I will confine my remaining remarks to celebrate and thank those who have expended sweat, tears, ingenuity and perhaps some blood to transform vision into this wonderful reality.

On behalf of UCC let me congratulate the academic team here at the Ringaskiddy Campus – our National Maratime Quarter.  With almost 5,000 m. sq. of wonderful new space and equipment Beaufort Building will house some 135 multi-disciplinary researchers in marine and renewable energy. It will house the €29.0 million SFI MaREI Centre (led by Prof Conchur O’Bradaigh) and the LIR National Ocean Test Facility (brainchild of the immortal Prof. Tony Lewis), all part of UCC’s Environmental Research Institute.

Congratulations to the visionary architects, McCullough Mulvin, to the design team of civil and structural engineers – ARUP, mechanical and electrical engineers - RPS and quantity surveyors - JJ Casey. I recognise, the dedication and  outstanding workmanship of JJ Rhatigans and their team of sub-contractors and the expert project management of UCC’s Buildings and Estates Office; in particular the Capital Projects Officer Niall McAuliffe assisted by David Burke.

The building has cost €15 million, provided by the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, from Bord Gáis Energy, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Glucksman Foundation; on a site provided by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), facilitated by the Port of Cork.   On behalf of UCC, I sincerely thank all for their generosity and support in turning the original vision into a reality.

In addition to  Science Foundation Ireland, I thank the 44 visionary businesses and industries co-funding the MaREI Centre which aims to make Ireland a global leader in Marine Renewable Energy. Beaufort Building will be a home-from-home for them and for partner researchers from Cork Institute of Technology, University of Limerick, NUI Galway, Maynooth University and University College Dublin, as well as for our many European and international research partners.

The LIR National Ocean Test Facility finally has a home befitting its international prominence and three decades of dogged perseverance by Tony Lewis and colleagues. It is a vital part of Ireland’s ocean energy test infrastructure and we look forward to working with Minister Alex White and staff in the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in supporting and maintaining LIR into the future.  We will prioritise completion of  a National Access Strategy enabling Ireland’s indigenous ocean energy device developers to make the maximum use of the LIR testing facilities, before proceeding to larger scale device testing in the ocean at Galway Bay and Belmullet.

I mentioned earlier the matter of leveraging investment. The MaREI Centre has already won significant Framework and Horizon 2020 funding.  Its antecedent (HMRC under Prof. Tony Lewis) led the very successful FP7 programme MaRINET, which provided access for European industry to over 29 ocean energy test facilities across Europe.  MaREI plans to have the LIR Test Facility become the central hub of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium, with the support of the UK, Spain and France.

A new and exciting development: The international reach and importance of UCC’s research in sustainability and adaptation to global climate change has been recognised by Future Earth Coasts.  Future Earth is sponsored by the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability with 2,000 international scientists, and Future Earth Coasts is a core project of a bold new 10-year initiative on sustainability of the World’s coasts.  With support from UCC, MaREI and SFI and industrial funding, Beaufort Laboratories were selected to house the International Project Office of the entire programme.

The Beaufort Building will also be a flagship development in the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC) Campus. This initiative by UCC, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service has been designed to promote Ireland, and Cork in specific, as THE place to invest in the maritime and energy sectors. I welcome all colleagues from CIT and the Navy today and also recognise the energy and vision of the indefatigable Dr. Val Cummins in driving the IMERC agenda.

Taoiseach, Commissioner, Ministers, universities are not costs to the nation they are excellent investments whether spent on research, on teaching infrastructure or on high quality staff.  And Beaufort is the latest exemplar. It is an honour to welcome the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. He was here two years ago to break the initial ground and we greatly appreciate his wonderful continuing support for marine science. I invite him to open the Beaufort Laboratory. Ladies and Gentlemen, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny."


University College Cork

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh

College Road, Cork T12 K8AF

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