Professor Willie Donnelly:

In one way we are competing for talent with the rest of the world. That is the first thing. One of the real values investment and research has brought to Ireland is our ability to attract the best graduates from around the world. Some of those graduates stay in academia but the majority of them go into industry in Ireland. They bring that talent, knowledge and innovation they have developed through their research, postgraduate studies and postdoctoral work in Irish academia. It is absolutely important that Ireland remains a country of choice for students from around the world to come to study and hopefully stay and put roots down. That is what will contribute to the further development of our economy.