Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The financial services company Northern Trust will locate in Limerick. Today, Google, the Internet company that is the brand name in terms of Internet activity, decided to locate in Ireland. From my perspective, such high quality investments in what I would describe as the industries of tomorrow are reassuring. Such organisations have made hard decisions. When I visit such companies in the United States and elsewhere, they still speak highly of the quality of the workforce in Ireland, the quality of the business environment in Ireland, the agility and responsiveness of the Government, its agencies and local authorities in respect of the issue of business investment in Ireland. When such factors are considered with our corporation tax rate of 12.5% and our good pro-employment tax polices for both personal and business taxation, we still have a good package.

This is not to deny that we face competitive challenges as we do. We must be extremely vigilant regarding issues pertaining to costs and must ensure productivity is maintained and enhanced. I refer in particular to the substantial productivity gains made during the past decade. While the rate of productivity growth has slowed from the dizzy heights of the late 1990s, nevertheless we must maintain a focus on issues such as productivity and so on. Ireland is winning because it continues to focus on high value activity and this year has been very good. Moreover, 2005 was also a particularly good year.

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