Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Gurría is very welcome again to Ireland, and it is very nice to meet him. I will outline one or two points concerning a number of areas. The OECD gave Ireland a lot of very valuable assistance during the crisis on trying to get people back to work, in particular in areas such as youth unemployment and long-term unemployment, both of which are referred to in the OECD's report. I certainly recommend that the Government consider commissioning a further report from the OECD, as independent experts in this area, specifically on the failure to create enough apprenticeships, particularly in housing and construction, because this area collapsed. The agency which provided the training in the old days, FÁS, collapsed as well, and a new agency was formed, but much of its attention is devoted to analysis. Regarding supply problems in the housing market, one of the key problems is that smaller and medium-sized firms cannot really take on apprentices because the format of the market has changed. It would be very helpful to have an independent set of eyes such as the OECD's look at this area because it may have examples from other OECD member states which might be useful for us to adapt.

Another issue is jobless households. I note Mr. Gurría said Irish employers are putting less into training than any other OECD country. Regarding the future of work, on which I know the OECD has done some work, it is really important that employers and government continue to invest in workers to raise their skills levels. I also wish to raise the issue of inequality of income and inequality in respect of the indices on well-being. I do not know whether the OECD has a policy per seon this, but we in Ireland need to move to a living wage. Wages have been very flat, notwithstanding the fact that, as Mr. Gurría said, the worst of the crisis has passed. This means that it has become extremely difficult for a person or a couple on a modest income to purchase or rent a house at a reasonable price. In certain areas, including in some of the professions such as teaching, many people are now going abroad because they are finding the traditional lifestyle expectancy they had of being able to begin to buy a house through a mortgage or rent is no longer realistic for them.

My other question concerns taxation, on which I know Mr. Pascal Saint-Amans has done a lot of work. How do the witnesses feel Ireland is performing? We have got quite a bad reputation in this regard, as they know, with certain countries almost seeming to target Ireland, as it were, as being responsible for all corporate tax inequality in the world, which is rather unfair. What are their observations on this? One of the attractions for foreign direct investment into Ireland is the calibre of the workforce here, both young graduates and young people from countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece who are willing to come here and work. Again, in many cases they are very highly educated young people from different countries. I ask the witnesses to comment on that.