The top 20 earners in University College Dublin earned a combined total of €4,522,041.61 in the year 2023
Records obtained by the University Observer under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 have revealed that the top 20 earners in University College Dublin earned a combined total of €4,522,041.61 in the year 2023.
The top earner on the list received a total earnings of €339,235.99 in gross pay in 2023, and holds the position of “Consultant/Full Professor” in UCD. Inclusive of this individual, there are six members of staff who earned more than €300,000 each in 2023.
Including the President, there are 14 members of staff in UCD who earned between €200,000 and €300,000 in 2023.
The records show that the UCD President, Orla Feely, was 20th on this list, her earnings coming to €206,167.50 in 2023. The Human Resources website, the University Observer can report, lists that the President’s ‘Annual Salary’ stands at €241,383, effective as of October 1 2024, an increase of €35,215.50 since 2023.
Including the President, there are 14 members of staff in UCD who earned between €200,000 and €300,000 in 2023. President Orla Feely is the only identifiable faculty member on this list, as her remuneration is publicly accessible via UCD Human Resources. All other individuals on the list are unnamed for the following reason: "The inclusion of names and job titles alongside these details (gross earnings) would result in the disclosure of personal financial information relating to identifiable individuals, thereby breaching both Section 37 of the FOI Act and our data protection requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018."
Nine of UCD’s top earners for 2023 held the title “Consultant/Full Professor”, their combined earnings standing at €2,619,441.21. Six of UCD’s top earners for 2023 held the title “Consultant/Associate Professor”, their combined earning standing at €1,473,880.05. Three held the title of “Full Professor”, their combined earnings standing at €674,983.80. One held the title of “Consultant/Professor”, and earned in gross pay for 2023, €225,430.10.
In a comment provided to the University Observer, UCD Students’ Union President Miranda Bauer remarked, "By any stretch, that seems like a lot of money for anyone in Higher Education to be on, particularly taking into consideration the precarity that exists in other roles within the University, such as those held by PhD workers."