Income, Employment and 3rd Level Education
- Nov 26, 2016
- 2 min read
As well as our 12.5% corporation tax, one of the factors we are constantly told makes Ireland so attractive to multinational corporations is our highly educated workforce. However the cost of third level education is more and more becoming a barrier to students, especially those from lower income families. Many are forced to take out student loans, or to take on part time work in addition to their full time education. Others, deterred by these two options, simply avoid college altogether and go straight into the workforce. A publicly funded third level education like the ones seen Scandinavia would help to level the playing field.
We’ve already seen the advantage having a highly educated workforce has had in Ireland. Many of the biggest corporations in the world, such as Google, Apple and Facebook have their European headquarters in Ireland. These corporations (as well as Microsoft, Twitter, Intel, etc.) in turn, create thousands of jobs for Irish workers. Removing the barriers to entry for 3rd level education allows more people the opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and experience, which could be a key factor in attracting large multinational corporation corporations, which are a huge boost to our economy.
This isn’t to say investing in education is the solution to all of Ireland’s economic woes. It is simply highlighting the fact that investing in 3rd level education to make it more accessible, could be seen as an investment in the future. October’s budget allocated 36.5 million euro to 3rd level and further education. However, it is estimated a further 100 million euro would be needed to remove the registration fee entirely. This money obviously isn’t going to come from nowhere, but it’s worth looking into alternatives to the current system as soon as possible. College education should be seen as an investment in society, not just as a privilege for those who can afford it.
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