[fuzzix]

"There are even government initiatives such as the JobBridge scheme that allow start-up companies hire people free of charge"

JobBridge has been roundly derided as a source of cheap/free labour for less than scrupulous restaurants , shops etc. under the guise of internship (as well as a useful way to fudge unemployment figures); "Learn to deal with problem customers..."

The short of it is, you'll need to offer a fair incentive to get good people - the IT sector is still pretty healthy here and decent graduates can expect to walk into a job from third-level.