Former higher education minister Carmel Hanna has said she is concerned Northern Ireland's universities have asked the direct rule minister to interfere with the education budget.

College lecturers say millions of pounds due to be given to the universities by the Stormont Assembly was diverted into other departments instead.

Northern Ireland Office minister Jane Kennedy assumed responsibility for the department when devolution was suspended last month amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the NIO.

The University of Ulster and Queen's University, Belfast, criticised the lack of funding allocated to higher education research in the executive's draft budget last September.

It is never going to be enough but there will always be competing priorities

Carmel Hanna Former minister

The Department of Employment and Learning received an increase of 6.2% in the draft budget, but no extra cash was made available for university research.

However, Ms Hanna said the budget was agreed democratically.

"I would be concerned that they would actually ask a direct rule minister to unpick the budget," she said.

"The executive spent days and weeks agreeing the budget and I do believe that I have secured fairly good funding for research in the universities.

"It is never going to be enough but there will always be competing priorities."

The universities argued that the lack of funding presented immense obstacles to attracting the best minds and the best talents to Northern Ireland and pointed to numerous successful research projects at both universities in recent years as proof of the need for funding.