Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

I apologise because I will have to leave to go to the Seanad for business which I see is already under way. I thank the witnesses for the presentation. I welcome the new economic model paper that ICTU has launched, particularly its all-island focus, which I think increasingly we need to get to in terms of this overall discussion in relation to economic growth across the island and the opportunities that are there. There also needs to be an acknowledgement of the historic underinvestment that there has been in the North, particularly in relation to public services, which in turn affects our ability there to grow the economy through skills and education and that approach. The EU directive on adequate minimum wages and collective bargaining and the failure to fully implement that were highlighted. What is the delay in doing that and what sort of timeframe do the witnesses expect there to be for it? The witnesses from NERI correctly identified competitiveness as an element, but the key aspect is productivity. That involves much more than simply looking at business regulation and other matters. I think that maybe answers to some of the previous discussions being had in relation to a focus just on competitiveness on its own and which skews us in a direction which does not look at the overall economic picture and what is required to grow the economy in its entirety rather than one particular aspect of it. The witnesses identified a clear weakness, which was the investment in infrastructure. Clearly, if we do not have housing, transport to get people to work, renewable energy investment to reduce the cost, then that leaves us in a difficult position in terms of growing the economy. That is evident not just in terms of getting the people to where they need to be to work, and getting the cost down in terms of energy but how we attract the required skills and talent from across the world as was suggested is a requirement.

Another weakness is the narrowness of the economic model when we see the tax take in regard to some of the larger companies and having all of the eggs in that particular basket. That has been identified as a weakness and I think the approach of the American administration has highlighted even more starkly the weakness and vulnerability of this approach. I would have liked to have seen some reference, in terms of geographic spread and sector, the economic model across the island to offset some of that vulnerability.

The witnesses talked, correctly, about ensuring full participation in the economy. That clearly points to a sector of people who do not get sufficient skills or do not get sufficient education or sufficient opportunities to be full participants in the economy. We will not get to the productivity levels and the competitiveness that come from that if we do not get people actively involved in the economy. What needs to improve in terms of the vision, skills, training and education in order to achieve that?