Technology graduates from eastern Europe could be employed in Ireland to help meet the rising demand here for high-skilled employees, according to Raidtec's chairman and chief executive officer, Mr Noel May.

"With 100 per cent employment in the technology industry here, we should be bringing in graduates from countries that don't have the same market demand. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary produce very good graduates who could work here on short-term contracts," he says.

Raidtec is facing increasing difficulty finding the graduates it requires in the face of competition from multinationals such as Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

"It's getting more and more difficult to attract the people we want. Once we attract them, we can get them it's getting their attention that's the problem. I don't see it improving in the next couple of years either," he says. Increasing the number of places available in university science and engineering courses is a long-term solution, but with a shortage of lecturers, Mr May suggests the Government should make it easier for graduates from other countries to work here.