Mr. Paddy Cosgrave:

I thank members for their very challenging questions and interesting contributions. Senator Colm Burke raised the issue of American companies that are finding it difficult to hire individuals with the requisite skills. There are two ways to look at this. The first is to look at the percentage of the workforce in Ireland employed in the high-tech sector and compare this with the equivalent percentage in other nations in the western world. In this way we can establish whether there is a deficiency in the workforce; in other words, we can establish whether we are behind other nations, in the middle, or at the front. EUROSTAT published a report just over a year ago on the percentage of the workforce in Ireland and the rest of Europe employed in the high-tech sector. It turns out that Ireland has more people employed in the high-tech sector as a percentage of the workforce than any other country in Europe. In fact it is twice the rate of our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom, and twice that of our next nearest neighbour, France. That is quite a startling statistic. Second, with regard to the current cohort of young people who are being trained, do we have a sufficient number of students studying these key areas compared to other western nations? There will always be a deficit of highly skilled labour at the cutting edge of the economy. Germany in 1880 or 1890 faced the same challenges. This will inevitably occur because of the feedback loop between new emerging technologies and the reaction of educational establishments in providing the necessary skills. Nevertheless, if one looks at the number of students studying computing, computing maths and engineering, one can see that Ireland is at the very forefront of Europe, with 14.5% of students studying those subjects. The only country that is marginally above this is Germany, where just over 14.5% of students are studying these subjects. Germany has a long tradition of engineering and we are right up there with Germany. The only other country with marginally more students being trained in these core areas is Malta, which must be discounted because of its size. Ireland is doing incredibly well.

I am well aware of the anecdote mentioned by the Senator. The only issue is that the level of money the individual was prepared to pay was far below the market rates. If he or she was prepared to pay the market rates, there would be no issue in finding the talent. The talent exists in Ireland, as a percentage of the population, to a greater extent than anywhere else in Europe, and the statistics back that up. Nevertheless, there is a deficiency in terms of the number of people available. Every businessperson would love to employ people as cheaply as possible, but the fact of the matter is that this is one of the most in-demand sectors.

The Senator mentioned an example of a recent graduate refusing a job on the basis that the salary was only €30,000 and it was better for him or her to remain on social welfare. One can do a literature review of all of the studies on whether there is a link between generous social welfare systems and disincentives to seek employment. In fact, despite the perpetuation of some sort of economic myth in certain circles, one will find there is no link. Incredibly generous welfare systems do not necessarily have much higher rates of unemployment. The studies show that the tendency of a person to seek work under a generous welfare system is not necessarily less than under an incredibly punitive welfare system. Thirty years of studies have shown that no such link exists.

With regard to law graduates, a perpetual challenge faced by the professions is the delay in matching supply with demand in areas such as civil engineering, architecture and law, to take three examples. At the age of 18 a young person is advised that he should study in one of these areas, but by the time he reaches the point of qualification the demand is no longer at that level. This is the ribbon effect. When this occurred in Germany in the 1880s and 1890s, the government put in place a mechanism to stop oversupply in the professions. That has existed in Germany for about 120 years, but it does not exist in Ireland. Germany is a good example of how a government can control the supply of graduates in key areas such as law, architecture and engineering.

Deputy Kyne queried my views on the Irish education system and the teaching of languages.

The Irish education system is an incredible achievement considering where it has come from. If one looks at the figures for the level of educational attainment for 2010, 25% of the population aged between 44 and 65 had attained a third level degree. In the rest of the EU 15 it is 66%. It is important to look at where we have come in such a short space of time in terms of the quantity of people passing through the education system. That does not necessarily count for everything but there is a significant correlation between the level of educational attainment, income and other measures. There may be some quality issues that are highlighted by studies such as PISA which show that our rankings in terms of quality in maths and sciences is not at the very top but that is something on which we must get to work. The Department of Education and Skills and others have examined the matter closely and many reforms are under way.

In terms of languages and the ability to travel, I can only speak from my experience, and English seems to be universally spoken, certainly in northern Europe in business. It is great to be able to speak German or French as it makes one more valuable. Irish is incredibly important in terms of our identity and what it means to be Irish and the teaching of it in schools is crucial. The huge volume of time that is dedicated to it is a contentious issue. We spend perhaps a seventh of our time learning a language that helps us form an identity but does not help us get a job during incredibly difficult times.

Deputy Durkan referred to motivation to seek jobs. From anecdotal experience and the academic literature on the subject, most young people I have met would like to have a job because it gives a sense of identity. It is something in which they take great pride. Decades of study indicate that the more generous welfare systems do not necessarily increase the level of disincentive for people to seek jobs. I welcome the fact that people get permanent jobs following internships on programmes such as JobBridge.

When I got to know the IDA initially I was influenced by the naughty things people from outside the IDA told me. Then I had the privilege of meeting members of UK Trade and Investment, UKTI, which is the IDA's equivalent in London. I had a number of meetings in Downing Street with UKTI and Mr. Cameron's senior trade advisers. I did the same in Denmark, France and elsewhere. Having met with similar agencies to the IDA and having seen them at work I do not think there is any agency in the world comparable to the IDA. Compared to other agencies in the world what it does is incredible. That is backed up by studies by the World Bank and others in terms of its pure metrics in getting people on the ground in Ireland.

The Chairman asked what the IDA is doing and what other chambers could do to encourage people to open up offices here. It is important to look at World Bank surveys. One of the most important aspects of trying to get a business to locate to a new country is to get people on the ground. Irish people are blessed with an ability to talk, socialise and engage with people in a welcoming and warm way. We have experience of bringing so many founders of high-growth tech companies that never thought of locating in Dublin to come here. The two days they spend in the city learning about it and experiencing Irish culture makes such a profound impact on people. It is all well and good to advertise on Bloomberg and in Businessweekor Forbesbut the impact of getting a CEO or key decision maker on the ground is profound. Everyone knows that. No one is under any illusions. The more of that the IDA does, the more I would encourage it. I am not such a big fan of just advertising in publications.

I have come across the youth guarantee. It must be welcomed in principle. If it could be pulled off Europe-wide it would be incredible, although I imagine it is incredibly complicated, even more so because there are such constraints on funding. There is a European micro-fund for young people. In many European countries for whatever reason people are not aware of such micro-funds. It does not take €1 million to invest in an idea and two guys; sometimes, as little as €5,000 or €10,000 can get people started. It is not necessary to invest huge amounts. In my sector, which is technology, it does not take much money to get an idea off the ground, get it tested and find out if people want to buy into it, but that is just my sector.