Reaction from the teacher unions so far has been mixed. The TUI broadly welcomes the IT initiatives but has a number of serious reservations particularly in the training area.

Billy Fitzpatrick, the union's education officer, says that the cheapest way to train teachers in IT is to provide them with PCs at home or to offer comprehensive tax incentives for the purchase of these PCs.

"Twenty hours of computer training in an outcentre is grossly inadequate," he says. "Providing teachers with PCs in their homes is the only way they will learn and is a key demand of the TUI."

Fitzpatrick is also concerned that there is no overall advisory body - this should have been the first thing to be put in place. The NCTE is very underresourced, he says. "It has a huge task and a very small number of personnel."

In all, he points out, £250 million is being allocated under the Educational Technology Investment fund with the vast bulk of the money going to third-level education to address skills shortages.

INTO general secretary Joe O'Toole notes that, when you come from a situation where you are using cornflake boxes and egg cartons, it's difficult to be anything but totally welcoming of an initiative such as IT2000.

"We recognise the sort of work being done by the NCTE and we believe Jerome Morrissey is doing an extraordinary job with very tight resources," he says. "We feel a good sense of partnership with him."

Acknowledging that there will be initial difficulties at school level, O'Toole says that the close partnership between the NCTE and the INTO should help overcome difficulties, while the helpline will also be a comfort to teachers.

He would like to see a number of teachers seconded to work full-time identifying best practice so that a virtual school could be established on the web. "Teachers are ruthlessly pragmatic about the job," he says "Nobody teaching 30 children will waste time pushing buttons. We have to make sure that what we are offering is relevant and we believe we have done that."

Moira Leydon, assistant general secretary-education with the ASTI, is also very supportive of the IT2000 initiative. The IT2000 framework document - usually referred to as `the red book' - is "pretty powerful as a framework". However, she is concerned at the delay in setting up the advisory and development committee. Leydon lauds the key role of the education centres in the delivery of training and, in particular, the discretion allowed to local IT advisers.

Michael Cotter, who is chairing the National Policy Advisory and Development Committee, says that two meetings have taken place - in February with the education partners and in June with the social partners. A document outlining their various ideas has been prepared and a working group will be established in the next few weeks. All of the social and education partners will be represented on this working group.