Thousands of prospective third- level applicants who yesterday experienced difficulties making their online Central Applications Office (CAO) applications have been advised to keep trying or else to post their application before tomorrow's deadline.
Joseph O'Grady, a spokesman for the CAO, acknowledged that individuals attempting to apply online were experiencing delays of up to several hours to complete the process yesterday.
The problem first arose yesterday morning due to a large volume of applications in advance of tomorrow's deadline. The website had already processed some 36,000 online applications, with 600 processed at lunchtime alone yesterday, Mr O'Grady said.
While the website had "definitely" not crashed, he added that some applicants may be using services where there is a "time- out" limit on how long it takes for a particular page to download.
"Some people are waiting a long time . . . when you try to download a page, it is taking a long time to download," Mr O'Grady said.
"We expect that all applicants who want to apply online will be able to do so. It is a case of being patient, but you will get through . . . alternatively if they put it in the post today there will be no problem."
Frank Mulvihill, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, said it had received numerous calls about the delays from concerned counsellors and their students yesterday.