Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The NCC's figures on our global rankings differ slightly from the Minister's. They do not show us moving at all. According to the Forfás report, for example, we were ranked 21st or so at the start of the crisis and are now 28th. I accept the Minister's point that some of the decrease has been driven by the macroeconomic instability, but examining the microeconomic drivers shows a worrying decline in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings, which are entirely on the micro side and cover such matters as red tape, regulation and so forth. From memory, it ranked us at seventh or eighth in the world in 2007, whereas we are 15th or so now. We are sliding down the macro and micro competitiveness rankings.

I accept that the Minister has taken real actions. Is he happy with the trajectory? Could more be done? Are there large ideas or policies to which he did not refer and that have not been introduced yet that could be implemented within the next year and a half?

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