Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection
National Strategy and Framework for Higher Education: Higher Education Authority
1:00 pm
Mr. Fergal Costello:
Almost, although Portugal may have a similar demographic. In Europe, the challenge is empty classrooms and immigration and whether they can bring in students or people from elsewhere. Their demographic growth rates are far different. This is a real challenge for us. As we said in our report, this is our opportunity. Ireland is not like Saudi Arabia and will not discover oil, but we are almost unique in Europe in that we have a cohort of young students coming through who will be the target of every country in terms of their skilled workforce. It is the management of that resource that is our basis for future competitive advantage.
No comments