The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, is considering a proposal to set up a high-tech third-level campus in Greystones, Co Wicklow. It could cater for about 1,000 students.
The proposal from the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), which has the support of the IDA, Wicklow County Council and several local politicians, would give Wicklow its first third-level facility.
The DIT is proposing to set up the campus on the IDA's business and technology park near Greystones DART station. The campus would act as an "outreach centre" from DIT's other colleges.
Many third-level colleges are hoping to get funding from the Department of Education for a campus outside the main cities and the DIT's proposal is one of the largest.
The campus would offer part and full-time courses in information technology and Web-based technologies, mainly for socially disadvantaged students, according to DIT's submission, seen by The Irish Times.
The submission says 2,826 students from Wicklow were attending a third-level institution in 1998/99. It says this participation rate is much lower than other eastern counties, such as Kildare and Meath. It claims the new campus would "provide a much-needed boost to the rates of participation in third-level education in the county".
The president of the DIT, Dr Brendan Goldsmith, said the campus would help attract companies to the area because it would be regarded as an added incentive.
"We will offer students a mixture of learning using the Web and video conferencing from our colleges in Dublin. But there will also be teaching taking place on site," he said.