This month, tens of thousands of mostly young people are arriving on campuses across the country to begin their lives as third-level students. It is an exciting new beginning as well as the culmination of years of work; for many, the long grind of the Leaving Cert was undertaken with this moment in mind.
It has become a badge of honour for Ireland that so many of its people hold university degrees. While international datasets are not perfectly aligned, the story they tell is clear. Ireland sends more people to third level than anywhere else in the European Union. In 2024, the State recorded the highest tertiary-attainment rate for 25 to 34-year-olds, at 65.2 per cent, compared with an EU average of 44.1 per cent. Across the working-age population, 56 per cent of adults aged 25-64 have a third-level qualification, far above the EU average of 35.1 per cent.
Those figures reflect a remarkable transformation in little more than a generation: from a system where university was largely the preserve of a privileged minority to one where a network of institutions nationwide offers opportunities to people from a range of different backgrounds. They represent a sustained investment, made by individuals and the State, in the belief that education is the surest route to prosperity and participation.
There is, however, an alternative view worth considering. It questions whether the singular focus on university best serves young people or society as a whole. Dublin Bus chief executive Billy Hann argues that Ireland’s fixation on degrees is starving essential trades of talent and damaging the economy. Many school-leavers, he suggests, would thrive on apprenticeships that offer pay from day one and clear career progression.
RM Block
Hann is speaking from experience. Over the last two years Dublin Bus has recruited mechanics overseas in the absence of domestic applicants. But newly qualified craft workers can start on packages that compare well with graduate entry roles. Hann is particularly keen to see more young women consider these careers.
A further alarm is sounded by James Reed, head of a major UK recruitment firm, who says the number of graduate jobs on his company’s site has fallen sharply in recent years. He urges families to broaden their horizons as artificial intelligence reshapes traditional office work. The UK context is not the Irish one and forecasts for AI’s impact still vary wildly. Yet the underlying point holds: the labour market is changing fast.
Ireland should celebrate its universities, which remain vital to research, culture and economic dynamism. But further education and apprenticeships need to be placed on a more equal footing in terms of funding, status and guidance. That means better information for students, clearer earnings data and more places in high-demand trades.
