Dr. Pat Ivory:

The young people who are leaving to work in Australia are educated, some have third level education and some have very good skills which they can use abroad. It is not always people with third level education who go to work in Australia; hairdressers, plumbers and those with carpentry skills all have good opportunities in Australia. Professor FitzGerald's research pointed out that it is not a recent phenomenon to say that young people move abroad in periods of economic recession. The numbers may increase somewhat during periods of economic recession for reasons which are not there during boom periods but even in boom periods people emigrate for good reasons.