Business and education leaders have enthusiastically welcomed the new Education Technology Investment Fund. The international vicepresident of Intel, Mr Bob Pearlman, described it as a "fabulous" initiative.
The Irish Business Employers' Confederation (IBEC) said the fund was a response to concerns expressed by Irish and multinational information technology firms that inadequate resources were being given to technology education.
"The reversal of a situation which saw students being turned away from IT courses due to lack of places is very welcome," said the director of IBEC's electronics federation, Ms Katherine Lucey. "We are now in a position to maximise the opportunities which the IT industry offers Ireland. We have a supply of talented, motivated and flexible people willing to work in IT. Hopefully this fund means that a major educational bottleneck has been resolved."
The Conference of Heads of Irish Universities congratulated the Government on its "vision and leadership in recognising the central role played by the education system in the country's development" and "the critical need to underpin Ireland's economic growth strategy by increased investment in universities".
The Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Tom Mitchell, particularly welcomed the embedding of the new fund in legislation. "This means we can plan investment in student numbers and facilities well ahead with the certainty that the funding will be there. Until now there have been no guarantees from budget to budget or from government to government."
He also praised the creation of a special innovation budget to allow high-level university research to be transformed into industrial technology and on into commercial products.
The Council of Directors of Institutions in the Technological Sector described yesterday's announcement as "a decisive major event in the history of Irish higher education".
The president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, Ms Alice Prendergast, particularly welcomed the support for the "technological powerhouse" represented by the RTCs, the Dublin Institute of Technology and the PLC sector.
Mr Charlie Lennon, general secretary of the main secondary teachers' union, the ASTI, said his union would reserve judgment until the details of the Government's IT in schools programme were known.
However, Fine Gael's education spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, said the announcement was "more about a media coup than a genuine long-term strategy". He said that objective assessments had prescribed an investment need of at least £750 million over the coming years, including £185 million for computers in schools and teacher training and £390 million for new third-level places for school-leavers and mature students.