August 22nd 2011  is the day of the first round CAO offers for third level places in Ireland.
In 2010  there was a problem with the CAO.ie website on the first day  – and it was unavailable for several hours.  (Hackers were blamed) In 2007 there were also major problems with students unable to submit last minute applications on time.
Hopefully the CAO have spent some of their large income from fees on upgrading the web site this year.
The CAO ( Central Applications Office )  which oversees college entry for more than 70,000 Irish students – appear to have made a  lot of money in recent years.

Returns filed to the Companies Office show it had an after-tax surplus of €1.38 million last year and €1.37 million in 2009. Overall, the company has accumulated net assets of €5.6 million, with €3.6 million of that consisting of cash in the bank.

With increased student fees – it doesn’t look good that a private company is making money out of applicants.  This year the application fee on CAO was €40 (with a discounted rate of €30 for “early bird” applicants ) .

In 2001 the fees were  €45 and €35 in 2010 -  which  generated more than €3 million.

The CAO accounts also show that they paid more than €1 million in wages and salaries to 10 full-time staff and 13 seasonal/temporary workers in 2010

Any one looking for the  CAO Login Page – it can be found here