Hanafin said last week she wanted the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to examine a system where students would secure extra CAO points for maths and science if they opt for courses related to those areas.

Bonus systems have also been called for by the Royal Irish Academy and by the government's national strategy for science, technology and innovation.

"Things like giving bonus points for certain subjects doesn't really do anything, " said Mike Devane, chairman of the research and development group of the chamber, whose members generate about 55bn in annual exports.

"There is a real need for leadership in the education system, leadership that has enough conviction to make it change and happen quickly, " said Devane, who is also managing director of Lucent Technologies in Ireland.

"Donagh O'Malley [who introduced free secondary education in 1967] did it.

We've done it before and we need to do it again."

Devane said the chamber wants the education debate to move to the top of the government's agenda "and if necessary make it an election issue". Ireland must set an agenda to move education infrastructure into the top decile in the world, Devane said. "We would view it as key, ahead of roads, rail or anything else."

The biggest challenge is at second-level, he said. "We're not getting the flow of people through that is required to support the economy. If we're going to invest in a knowledge economy, particularly R&D, then education is an important component."

The chamber's biggest concern is that action is not being taken on foot of initiatives such as the Task Force on Physical Sciences set up in 2000. "The task force did a very comprehensive job on identifying issues, " Devane.

"The real concerns are that nothing has been done. It was last year before we saw the review of the maths post-primary system."

To reach the 'Ireland Inc' goal of double the number of PhDs, Ireland will need four times the number of people entering third-level, he said.

"If you look at post-graduate activities going on, 50% are not Irish. If we were to open up more university places, we would not be able to service that ourselves."

The chamber is looking at using multinationals' outreach programmes to create momentum around the issue, Devane said. Among the many problems identified by both the chamber and Chambers Ireland is that people with no background in physics are teaching it. "We have to get teachers back into industry so they can have a better understanding of science applications and make it more exciting."