Sir, - The recent decision by the Higher Education Authority arbitrarily to cut the research equipment budget to the universities by 60 per cent will have profound consequences for the training of graduates, researchers, technologists, engineers and other "technically" qualified professions. This decision, has, unfortunately, received little attention in the media. We have heard plenty recently about the skilled labour shortages appearing in our technologically advanced industries - industries relying on the highly trained graduates which attracted them to our shores in the first place.
The Higher Education Authority will compound this shortage with its short sighted and inept decision. This decision will lead to the sort of crisis management that has appeared recently to deal with the looming shortage of computing graduates. In the absence of equipment, how are we to train our graduates properly? Will the Intels and Microsofts of this world still want to come to Ireland when they discover our graduates are being trained on Model T equipment?
What is even more astounding is that this cut follows barely a week after the Higher Education Authority's own CIRCA report on the management of research in Irish universities. The report underlined the urgent need for an increase both in the allocation for capital equipment for research and the base line funding for research within the third level sector.
Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly clear that the Department of Education, through the Higher Education Authority, is becoming more and more out of touch with Ireland's needs. Science and technology drive 60 per cent of our economic growth. Ireland needs graduates skilled to international level (beyond the post doctoral level). We cannot provide this essential resource if the means for training these people is withdrawn.
If the CEOs of our major multinationals were to hear about this, there would be serious repercussions for prospects of further employment expansion. Equally, what prospect is there now for technologically advanced indigenous industry developing in the future? - Yours, etc.,
Department of Psychology,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.