Sir, – In “Numbers of students in higher education climbs to record high” (News, January 18th), the Higher Education Authority claim that this will help the country meet whatever challenges it faces in the years ahead.
I fear that this is sadly misguided, due to the escalating rents in many of our urban centres, along with a chronic housing shortage, to name but two serious issues, it is far more likely that these highly educated, mostly young people will opt for careers abroad.
This in itself will become a challenge in the not so distant future as evidence suggests many difficulties already exist in recruiting and retaining professionals in healthcare and, ironically, ironically education.
It would appear in Ireland we are educating people to meet challenges faced by many countries around the world where our graduates may eventually call home. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN
O’HARA,
Ballincollig,
Co Cork.