Highly educated workforce boosts Irish economy

Ireland has a reputation as a world education centre and has developed an international standing as a centre of quality education and training.
The international activities of Irish higher education institutions cover a wide range of areas such as accountancy, business, engineering, IT, management, medicine and science.
In recent decades, Ireland’s focus on education and innovation has driven the growth of their knowledge economy.
In spite of the current global economic challenges, Ireland has continued to commit significantly to directing resources into research and innovation centres.
During a recent visit to Malaysia, Ireland’s Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, said, “Competitiveness has been key to our economic recovery and, in education specifically, investment has remained high to ensure a highly educated and productive workforce.”
The Irish education system is geared towards producing graduates who are suited to today’s technology-intensive industries. Students at their higher education institutions benefit from a strong ethos in research and innovation.
There is a strong working relationship between Ireland’s universities, institutes of technology and business enterprises.
This constant dialogue ensures that graduates from the academic institutions are equipped with relevant knowledge and competencies that would allow them to be immediately productive when they enter the workplace.
This is the reason that Ireland is an attractive home for over 1,000 high-tech multinationals such as Microsoft, Google, Citicorp, Linked-in, Intel and 13 of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies in the world. Bruton said that this was convincing proof of the global recognition enjoyed by graduates of Irish education institutions.
Towards this end, Irish higher education institutions are increasingly internationalising their campuses. About 11% of the student population in Irish universities are international students, with over 2,000 international students pursuing PhD programmes.
An internationalised education system in Ireland plays a crucial role in maintaining its international profile and attractiveness by contributing to the education of the next generation of leaders and decision makers globally.
International students are always welcomed in Ireland because they give Irish students the inter-cultural expertise that is essential in the global economy.
For more information, visit www.educationinireland.com.