People in Ireland aged 16-74 rank lower than the EU average for a number of basic computer skills, such as moving a file on a computer and creating a presentation on a PC, a new Eurostat study suggests.
The Eurostat study is a part of eSkills week, a European campaign which runs 26-30 March, focused on showing people how to get jobs using IT skills.
In a computer skills survey conducted in 2011, 60pc of people in Ireland aged 16-74 said they have copied or moved a file or folder on a computer, below the EU average of 63pc. Some 82pc of people aged 16-24 copied or moved a file compared to 89pc across the EU.
Forty-four per cent of people in Ireland aged 16-74 said they have used basic arithmetic formulas in a spreadsheet, slightly above the EU average of 43pc. However, when the same question was asked just to people in Ireland aged 16-24, 54pc said they had, lower than the EU average of 67pc.
When asked if they had ever created presentations with a computer, 21pc of individuals in Ireland aged 16-74 said they had, below the EU average of 31pc. Some 36pc of people aged 16-24 in Ireland also said they had created presentations on computers compared to the EU average of 59pc.
Nine per cent of people in Ireland aged 16-74 said they have written a computer programme, slightly below the EU average of 10pc. When the age range was reduced to 16-24, 13pc said they had written a computer programme, compared to 20pc in across the EU.
Computing degrees
The report also covered what percentage of the EU graduate population had obtained computing degrees.
In 2005, 4pc of the EU graduate population had a computing degree, but this fell in 2009 to 3.4pc.
However, in Ireland, while 2.9pc of graduates had a computing degree, this rose above the EU average in 2009 to 3.8pc.
