Committee on Education and Science: Problems with maths and science at second level present a "huge threat" to the future growth of research and development in Ireland, a Dáil committee has been told.
Speaking at a presentation to the Joint Committee on Education and Science, Dr John Hughes, president of NUI Maynooth, said third-level institutions were concerned about the effect of the situation on the growth of Ireland's research.
Some 5,000 Leaving Certificate students failed ordinary-level or higher-level maths this year, and a further 5,800 took foundation-level maths, which is not accepted by most third-level colleges. Almost one in five students also failed ordinary-level biology.
Earlier Mr Paul Hannigan, chairman of the Council of Directors of the Institutes of Technology (IoTs) told the committee that IoTs were in need of much greater funding for research infrastructure.
He said the current system for allocation of research funding, with its emphasis on the need to provide matching funding, was "skewed" against the IoTs.
A recent review of the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) had also recommended that future funding cycles focus less on infrastructure and more on people and facilities.
"When the PRTLI was launched six years ago the funding criteria used did not encourage Institute of Technology participation," he said.
"Should this recommendation be adopted, clearly PRTLI will not provide an opportunity for institutes to address their infrastructural deficit."
There was also a need for a national policy framework to be established by the Government, he said, although he acknowledged that some progress had been made.
"Additional funding for research facilities will enhance institutes' regional spread and will make a significant difference to growing indigenous as well as multinational companies throughout the country," he said.
In a submission from the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities, Dr John Hegarty, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, said that locating investigative research within universities had an impact, not only on teaching and the creation of knowledge, but also on the calibre of graduates.
To compete internationally, Ireland needed to have world-class academic staff, facilities such as laboratories and libraries, and the ability to attract and retain the best students.
Reviews had consistently shown that Ireland was "average average average" in international research terms, he said.