The downturn in the IT sector is raising difficult questions for education policymakers. When economic growth soared to record levels, it underpinned the importance of providing funds for IT-based education. Ireland's ability to produce computer-literate graduates was seen as vital to economic growth. The Republic was the most successful state in the EU at attracting inward investment - thanks in no small part to what was an enlightened education policy.
There are indications that the changing economic climate is forcing a re-examination of priorities. The Government's chief advisory body on labour market trends and skills is already reviewing its recommendations for more spending on IT in the light of the economic downturn and the events of September 11th. In a Dβil reply, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, said that the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs would be reassessing the assumptions behind its recent report, which suggested that £130 million be invested in information and communications technology. The highly-respected group, chaired by the former president of DCU, Dr Daniel O'Hare, said that the money should be spent over five years, mainly on third-level places in the area of information technology.
In the Dβil, the Minister said the resource implications of the Expert Group's recommendations will be addressed in the context of the forthcoming annual estimates. The £130 million figure proposed by the group is no more than an aspiration; it has still to get past the mandarins at the Department of Finance.
There is an obvious danger that the Government might over-react to the current economic situation. By most estimates, the economy is facing a downturn and not a recession. Most commentators believe an economic upturn - fuelled by a resurgence of economic confidence in the US - will be underway by 2003 at the latest. Good forward planning meant that this State was well placed to exploit the boom of the past decade. When the upturn inevitably comes, we must be similarly poised and ready.