A not too surprising survey carried out by the MRBI for the Information Society Commission, www.isc.ie, last month found that the major difference in usage and access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Ireland is among those from different socio-economic backgrounds.
It showed that 87 per cent of students and 64 per cent of those in the workplace are familiar with PCs, compared to 30 per cent of unemployed people. It also showed that while 87 per cent of white collar workers were familiar with PCs, just half of skilled manual workers had the same level of knowledge.
Despite this disparity, the survey also found, somewhat surprisingly, that, although half the adults spoken to had already had computer training, a great many were not interested in doing further courses. A lack of money was most often cited as a reason in those under 34, while many of the over-50s cited lack of relevance to their lives.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Brenda Boylan, spokeswomen for ISC, said: "People who may already be marginalised in society are at risk of more marginalisation in the information society if they are not given opportunities to access the new technology."
So, even if increased access to technology training makes little difference in the participation levels of those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, what is the answer to the digital divide?
One route is to get children interested in computers and technology so that as they grow this becomes something they bring with them throughout their lives. There is, however, little consensus on the mechanics of this issue.
Speaking to the Dail's Public Accounts Committee two weeks ago, Fianna Fail TD Sean Ardagh said: "In my constituency of Dublin South Central, there are certain schools with clapped-out computers and other schools have some of the most up-to-date equipment."
Mr Ardagh, whose constituency includes the city centre areas of Fatima Mansions and Dolphin's Barn, also said that children living there had less access to computer education than those in more middle class areas such as Terenure and Templeogue.
However, John Dennehy, General Secretary at the Department of Education, told the same committee that a study carried out by his department showed the opposite. It found that there were actually marginally more computers in disadvantaged schools - one for every 16 pupils as opposed to one for every 17 in other schools.
With such divergent opinions, where does the truth lie? One possible reason for the differing views is that an organisation called Dublin Inner-city Schools Computerisation Project (DISC) has skewered the overall average by helping greatly in the 20 schools (11 primary, nine secondary) it's involved with.
"The schools associated with DISC have all been upgraded, but there are other schools in the inner city that would not have the same facilities," Project Director Dr Tommy Cooke said.
The 20 schools have approximately 4,500 pupils and there are over 300 teachers involved. To date, most of the teachers in the DISC schools have been trained to work as tutors. A mark of their interest is that they all trained in their own time.
The project has been fortunate in the amount of help received from its partners: Dublin Institute of Technology, who direct the initiative and supply premises and full financial administrative support; the National Centre for Technology in Education, which has provided grants, equipment and a full-time co-ordinator; Fujitsu Siemens, which donated 48 multimedia computers and technical support; and Dublin Inner City Partnership, which gave £22,000 to the project.
To qualify for the DISC project, a school must be in Dublin's inner city (between the canals) and be classified as disadvantaged by the Department of Education. It works as part of the Department's Schools IT2000 programme which aims to have computers in all Irish schools by 2003.
The DISC schools are well ahead of this target date though, something that is greatly helping the children lucky enough to benefit from the project. "Computers are an excellent tool for engagement and confidence building measures in the younger generation, apart from the benefits that accrue through education, skills and in future employment," said Dr Cooke.
About 95 per cent of those questioned in the ISC survey believe all school children would be using computers as part of their education within the next 10 years, while 88 per cent think children would have to be familiar with information technologies to get a job. With a lot of the primary schools feeding into secondary schools that are also involved with DISC, many of these children will benefit for several years and their designation as disadvantaged will cease. They will, in fact, have a distinct and very useful advantage over many children from schools in middle class areas.
DISC, DIT, 40-41 Lower Sean McDermott St, Dublin 1. Tel: 01-4024392.
Padraig Collins can be contacted at pcollins@irish-times.com