Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) has witnessed a dramatic slump in the number of applications it has received for its computer-related courses.
The figures, revealed in its latest applications statistics, will come as a serious blow both to Government and industry efforts to encourage participation in these areas.
The number of people applying for the information and communications technology (ICT) course at the college has more than halved, the new figures show.
In a sign that confidence among parents, school-leavers and mature students in the employment prospects of the ICT sector remains low, last year 151 people applied for places on the college's ICT degree.
Of these, only seven applicants indicated that the course was their first preference.
This compares with 319 applications for the course in 2003, with 29 of these indicating it was a first preference. In 2001, a total of 1,123 people applied for the course.
The number of students applying for the college's computer science degree also fell significantly this year.
In total, 438 people applied for a place on the four-year course, compared with 607 in 2003, and 1,114 in 2001. Of these, 54 were first preferences, compared with 85 in 2003 and 198 in 2001.
Application figures for other courses at the college, however, reinforce data released by the Central Applications Office (CAO), which showed there has been an increase in demand for places on medicine and health-related courses.
A total of 603 people chose medicine as their first preference at TCD this year, compared with 496 in 2003. In total, 1,634 people have applied for a place on the course, up from 1,276 in 2003.
However, while the overall CAO figures revealed that pharmacy was up 9 per cent, and physiotherapy up 7 per cent, the TCD statistics reveal that a significant proportion of such applications were not first choices.
Applications for the college's science degree, however, have remained stable, with 334 people wanting to study it as a first preference, compared to 338 last year.
A total of 2,308 applications for places on the course were received this year, up from 2,247 in 2003.