Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 497: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps he has taken to solve the problem of graduate retention in the western region; the partnerships that are in place between his Department, third level institutions and enterprise groups to promote graduate retention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28334/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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A breakdown of county of employment vs. county of origin of graduates is available annually from the Higher Education Authority in their What Do Graduates Do? series of reports. The latest available report published in October 2008 indicates that nationally 31% of graduates find employment in their county of origin. Galway has the third highest graduate retention rate (63%) after Dublin (93%) and Cork (68%). The key role for the third level institutions in relation to graduate employability is to ensure that courses provided are relevant to the skills needs of the economy. In this regard our higher education institutions recognise the business community as a key stakeholder and have developed governance and management arrangements to provide for business input at strategic decision making level. Work placements are available on a large number of courses throughout the third level sector and liaison between employers and institutes when designing courses and programmes are a common feature throughout the sector. While many individual third level institutions have forged close links with industry at a local level and develop courses in response to their specific workforce needs, it should be noted that there are many factors which may influence a graduate's choice of employment and some may not necessarily wish to secure employment in their county of origin.