99 Revenue Students graduate with Degrees and Diplomas in Taxation
The second recipients of a Degree in Taxation from a university in Ireland graduated at the University of Limerick today. The 30 graduates, all staff members of Revenue, were conferred with the BA (Hons) in Applied Taxation. The programme included a broad range of tax and related topics with a highly focussed tax research project. A further 69 Revenue staff were conferred with the Diploma in Applied Taxation, bringing to 297 the number of Revenue staff that have graduated to date with this technical tax qualification.
The President of UL, Professor Don Barry, speaking at today’s graduation said
"I sincerely congratulate the 99 Revenue students who are receiving their Degrees and Diplomas in Taxation here at UL today. This is only the second year where degrees in taxation have been conferred in Ireland and our ongoing academic partnership with Revenue is important for this University and especially for our taxation department - the largest in any Irish University."
Ms Josephine Feehily, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners said today,
"We embarked on this unique and innovative partnership with the University of Limerick in September 2004 because we were confident that it would deliver a number of tangible benefits to Revenue and to our staff. Today’s graduation is another successful chapter in the partnership between our organisations. We have achieved a lot since we first embarked on this process and I think we can be well pleased with progress. Revenue is facing very significant challenges right now in the context of the deteriorating public finances and this programme is an important component in building our capability and equipping Revenue to meet these challenges. Today is very much about our graduates and we applaud them for their success"
Professor Tom Kennedy, Director of the National Centre for Taxation Studies, speaking today said,
"All of us at UL are very proud of this most successful and pioneering partnership with Revenue. Today our joint efforts have resulted in the graduation of a second cohort of 30 Revenue students with Degrees in Applied Taxation and a fourth cohort of 69 students with the Diploma in Applied Taxation. We are delighted to have been associated with the educational development of such a dedicated group of students and warmly congratulate them and their families on their outstanding achievement. UL is well recognised as a University which meets the needs of the marketplace and our partnership with Revenue is one shining example of how such a partnership can work - with the commitment and expertise of both parties. We have no doubt that this partnership will contribute to the ever increasing professionalism and business focus of Revenue, who have been the outstanding achievers in our public service in the past decade."
The Dean of the Kemmy Business School, Prof. Donal A Dineen, re-affirmed the commitment of the School to this excellent and pioneering partnership arrangement with the Revenue and complimented all directly involved for its continued success.
[Ends 19/01/2009]