A leaked cable from the US Embassy in Dublin has shown that the US mission here took an interest in the third level system and expressed concerns about the number of graduates qualifying with skills necessary to meet Ireland’s smart economy staffing needs.

The cable, marked confidential, discusses the US Ambassador’s discussion with An Taoiseach, and outlines his concerns about the future of Ireland’s third-level system, along with the viability of the Irish smart economy.

The meeting also discussed the Northern Irish peace process as well as laundering.

“The Ambassador related concerns expressed by U.S. firms and Irish universities that the quality and number of third-level graduates (roughly 16,000 in 2004) increasingly appeared insufficient to meet the needs of Ireland’s hi-tech economic sectors,” the leaked cable read.

“The Ambassador noted that this problem had repercussions for Ireland’s drive on global competitiveness and was linked to limits on education funding, which derived from the Government’s long-standing decision not to impose university tuition for Irish students (a theme of the Ambassador’s March 3 speech at Trinity College).”

“Cowen thanked the Ambassador for his interest and cited the Government’s focus on competition, both at the university level and for the Irish economy writ-large. Cowen said that, in the Government’s drive to improve university education, the Department of Finance had concentrated on assisting the transition to better management structures in university administration. This effort entailed rationalizing curricula, faculty, and academic departments so as to eliminate obscure, under-attended courses with a view to making the most good for the most students.”

“[Brian Cowen] noted that, with the surge in the number of wealthy Irish, there could be win-win situations for the universities in terms of funding resources and for contributors in terms of their tax burden. He said the Finance Department would welcome any additional U.S. perspectives on the endowment idea that the Ambassador might wish to offer.”

Full cable available here : http://213.251.145.96/cable/2005/03/05DUBLIN286.html

Source: teaandtoast.ie.