A joint initiative between the Government and the IT industry to train and employ the longterm unemployed was formalised yesterday with the announcement of an executive board of directors to oversee the project.

The Fastrack to Information Technology (FIT) is on target to train 900 people by the end of April, exactly one year after its establishment. The initiative has a three-year goal of training 3,500 people as IT professionals.

Targeting the twin problems of long-term unemployment and an IT skills shortage, the programme is a collaboration of industry, community and government through the VECs, FAS and Local Employment Services. Yesterday, the Taoiseach Mr Ahern committed £160,000 in additional Exchequer funding to meet the additional training provision and allowances required by government agencies working with FIT.

The executive board includes representatives from Corel, Dell, Symantec, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Gateway, AOL and Lotus.

The cost of the programme over the next three years is estimated at around £20 million.