Poor performances at three colleges mean they have been threatened with €1m worth of penalties.

The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Dundalk Institute of Technology and the National College of Art and Design have been warned they will be punished for failing to meet targets set out by the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

The targets were in areas including international focus, student numbers and research targets.

Each of the three colleges is in danger of penalties of hundreds of thousands of euro, the first time such institutions have faced this prospect.

The Irish Times claims the colleges fall short on research, student numbers, income generation and international focus.

However, they can escape the fines if they submit plans to the the HEA explaining how they will tackle the problems.