'People running UL need to be available to answer questions', says Mary-Lou McDonald

"PEOPLE who have a responsibility of running UL need to make themselves available to answer questions", Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald has said.

Her comments come against the backdrop of a governance scandal at University of Limerick (UL), with college bosses set to face questions at the Public Accounts Committee next week after it emerged €5.2m was lost paying inflated prices for 20 homes in Rhebogue.

College president Prof Kerstin Mey will not appear before the committee having declared herself "incapacitated".

She went on sick leave last week.

Ms McDonald, who is a graduate of UL said: "If she is unwell, I wish her a speedy recovery. I don't like to hear anybody is in ill health. But let me also say, as president of the university, the president needs to make themself available to the Public Accounts Committee. That's how this works."

The Dublin TD was in Limerick this Wednesday following the announcement that local deputy Maurice Quinlivan is to bid to become Limerick's first directly elected mayor.

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The college's deal for student housing just months after it emerged the university had overpaid in the order of €1.5m for the former Dunnes Stores premises in the city centre.

She added: "There are systemic issues which need to be identified and answered. People who have a responsibility of the running of the university need to make themselves available to answer questions.

"I wish her a very speedy recovery, and look forward to her giving evidence and taking questions at the committee," said the Sinn Fein leader.

Ms McDonald, who completed a post-graduate degree at UL, said she finds the latest news from the college "really sad and really disappointing".

"It's a fantastic university. It's a hub of excellence, innovation and learning and to be caught again with questions of management oversight, the use of public money, is just really not acceptable," she said.

Mc McDonald believes third level institutions across Ireland are not "properly and adequately supported".

"But the bottom line is when you receive public money, you're accountable for it. I'm hugely disappointed as it's a great university, and I have a sense of deja-vu - here we go again," she concluded.

As part of her visit, the Sinn Fein TD met union leaders representing staff of University Hospital Limerick, and also a number of other groups.

On Mr Quinlivan's likely candidacy in the mayoral election, she said: "Nobody loves Limerick quite like Maurice Quinlivan."

"I think he will bring a lot of experience, a huge amount of empathy and above all else, he beings a sense of ambition for the role," she added.