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Students Kevin O'Meara and Brendan Murphy with Minister Noel Ahern, TD, at the School of Computing final year project display event in DCU

Minister Ahern spoke to many students about their projects including Nadine Redmond who devised a University Portal

A survey conducted by DCU shows there are now more than 8000 vacancies in Ireland for IT and technology graduates.

The shortage in supply has been caused by a significant downturn in students opting for computer studies in the wake of the dot com collapse. The numbers graduating have not yet reached adequate levels four years after the technology meltdown.

Professor Michael Ryan, Head of the Computer School at DCU said they were unable to meet the demand from companies this year for 3rd year students to do six month paid placements. The School has tracked publicly advertised IT and technology job vacancies over recent weeks and the current level of more than 8000 will come as a surprise to many people.

These vacancies far exceed forecast predictions of the demand for ICT skills.

The Bank of Ireland jobs index for May also showed a 32 per cent rise in technology vacancies advertised in the first three months of the year.

This is not only an Irish phenomenon. A recent survey of mid and large sized US companies by the Information Technology Association of America showed that there are more than 190,000 unfilled IT jobs because of a shortage of qualified workers.

All of last year's DCU's 145 computer graduates are now in full time jobs and the School of Computing has continuous inquiries from companies seeking to hire graduates.

Professor Ryan said: "The lingering memory of the technology downturn - now very much a thing of the past - is obscuring the opportunities that are currently available in the computing field.

"The demand for computer skills is now very strong. It's disturbing that we have not yet got away from the dot com image of the industry."

He also called for an urgent review of the second level curriculum to include computer studies.

"It defies logic that a country that aims to move to higher value jobs in technology and research still does not have a second level computer studies course for the Leaving Certificate."

In the UK information and communication technology is now one of the top ten A level courses with nearly 50,000 students taking it last year.

Sarah Farrell and Minster Ahern

Professor Ryan strongly attacked the portrayal of computer students as "geeks".

" Computing provides training for careers that do not involve sitting all day in front of a computer screen. Graduates work in many different fields from the arts and showbusiness to banking and insurance as well as leading technology companies both in management and problem solving.

" These graduates also make great entrepreneurs who go on to found their own successful businesses."

Professor Ryan was speaking at the display of the School of Computing final year projects that included a study of handwriting in the medieval Book of Leinster to identify the number of authors, a "virtual reality" experience of flying a helicopter, making learning Chinese easy, and the controversial subject of e-voting.

The display was formally opened at a breakfast at 8 am on Friday 27 May in DCU by Minister Noel Ahern, TD.

Press coverage
RTE Radio 1 news coverage, 26 May 2005
Today with Pat Kenny, Radio 1, 26 May 2005 (The interview with Professor Michael Ryan, School of Computing, begins approximately 28 minutes into the show)
Good times roll again for hi-tech graduates as jobs go unfilled, Irish Independent, 26 May 2005
Engineers in demand as IT jobs pay up to €100,000, Irish Independent, 27 May 2005
Interest in IT courses plunges, Irish Examiner, 27 May 2005
Industry could be facing crisis , The Star, 30 May 2005
8,000 jobs in IT empty,Irish Mirror, 30 May 2005
Survey shows IT & technology vacancies, RTE 9 o'clock news, 31 May 2005

For further information
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