IRISH students tend to remain at school longer than their Scottish counterparts and a higher proportion of them find jobs or go on to further education, according to a new FAS report.
However, almost three times as many Irish school leavers ultimately end up unemployed.
These conflicting findings are accounted for in large part by structural differences in the educational and vocational training of the two countries. In Ireland, the response to rising unemployment among school leavers has been to delay their exit from the system, develop new school based vocational courses and expand the provision of third level education.
Scotland has opted for expanding training provisions for young people after they leave school. As a result, while one third of Irish school leavers go on to third level education, only one in six do so in Scotland.
Greater training provision for school leavers has not resulted in more jobs for young Scottish workers. While 35 per cent of Irish school leavers find full time employment, the figure for Scotland is 24 per cent.
On the other hand, only 8 per cent of Scottish school leavers become unemployed, compared with 25 per cent of their Irish counterparts.
Scotland is one of the State's main competitors in attracting foreign investment.