Ferdie hits back over his €22,000 expenses claim

DCU president Ferdinand von Prondzynski has defended expenses of over €22,000 he incurred since 2008 claiming that all expenses were “DCU-related costs”.

Details of the president’s expenses were published in the Sunday Tribune last month in an article entitled “Top college staff get thousands in expenses”.

Von Prondzynski told the College View that his expenses totalling €12,690 in 2008 and €9,458.94 in 2009, were “DCU-related costs including anything bought via my corporate credit card… office materials, office computer, some travel etc.”

The Sunday Tribune reported that the expenses of the “top four academics in DCU” totalled more than €53,000 over the last two years.

This figure includes the €9,000 claimed by deputy president Professor Anne Scott, €7,500 claimed by finance director Frank Soughley and almost €11,000 in expenses incurred by the university’s vice president for research, Professor Eugene Kennedy.

Von Prondzynski, who earns a salary in excess of €230,000, argued that his expenses are modest in comparison to those of other professionals.

“The job of president does entail the need to travel, and to act as host sometimes when we have visitors, and so forth. As we know from recent revelations, these expenses are far more modest than those of, say, TDs, and a fraction of what a corporate chief executive would have.”

He added: “We are very careful to spend only what we must spend. So for example, when I use my car to travel around Dublin, and when I pay parking charges while on business, I never charge these to DCU but carry them out of my own money. I never use taxis to get around the city, and if I need public transport I get a bus and pay for it myself. I don’t believe we are wasteful.”

Green party education spokesperson Paul Gogarty TD said that he believes expenses incurred by university staff should be reduced.

“My own personal view is that allowances to university staff should be cut commensurate to the economic decline, say 15%, and that expenditure should be reduced proportionately,” he said.

“This may mean less travel, less lavish entertainment, it may mean cutting back on less necessary expenses in order to maintain the budget for those deemed to be more important,” he added.