Graduate exodus - Stop the brain drain

Speaking in Cork last week, former US president Bill Clinton noted that Ireland was the only country in Europe that had a younger workforce than the United States.

“It would be a good thing,” he suggested, “if you could get as many of your young people as possible to hang around here.”

Maybe “hang around” was not the best choice of words, but we know what he meant. In a recent survey of final-year medical students, Senator Colm Burke found that two-thirds of them feel that they will have no alternative but to leave this country. Indeed, almost half are already planning to go.

Only 35% said that they would stay working in an Irish hospital. Of course, traditionally newly qualified doctors have been overworked in Irish hospitals, so that could be a factor that should be examined.

Some may well leave in search of valuable training and experience abroad, but the fact that we are likely to lose our brightest students should set alarm bells ringing.

The State heavily subsidises their education, so careful consideration should be given to means of ensuring that as many as possible settle in this country and thus repay the investment in their education.