Dr. Tom McDonnell:

It is an area in which Ireland does very badly. We have very high costs for energy. We used to have very low costs of energy. There is no reason we cannot get back there. However, a part of that is going to be a massive programme of State investment in renewable energy, battery storage and all of these things we are going to have to do. That will improve Irish competitiveness across the board. It means we will not have to import energy from abroad, which would help. We see that as a large issue.

Other market failures that can be addressed are insurance and legal fees. It is very difficult. The Legislature has a role to play in that regard, as have the courts. Those broad-based failures are what we see as the best way to approach reducing costs for businesses.