merrion street

Higher education in Ireland is competing very well internationally and graduate employment has bounced back to pre-crisis levels, a major review published today shows.

The report, presented by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to Education Minister Ruairí Quinn outlines how well Ireland is performing against international benchmarks. It shows that:

• Half of 30-34 year olds now have third level qualifications, the highest level in Europe
• Irish universities are in the top 1% of research institutions in the world across 18 academic disciplines
• Ireland is 1st in the world for the availability of skilled labour
• Ireland has the 4th highest percentage of Maths, Science and Computing graduates in the EU
• 75% of Irish employers are satisfied with graduate skills

The Minister said:

Higher education is one of the success stories in Ireland in recent years. Despite the strains and stresses it has endured, the system has shown great resilience and has been a major contributory factor to economic and social development. Of course there have been challenges and we are also aware that there will be further issues to grapple with in the years ahead.