Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

From 2000 onwards, on the three main competitiveness indices - those produced by the World Economic Forum, IMD and the World Bank - our rankings fell from peaks of fifth, seventh and seventh in the world, respectively, to 29th, 24th and 16th in the world, respectively. By the time the previous Government left office after the economic crash hit, Ireland’s competitiveness had been seriously damaged, more than 300,000 jobs had been lost in the private sector and unemployment had reached a high of 15.1%.

Since entering office, the Government has helped our rankings improve and 126,000 people are back at work. While competitiveness is improving, there is no room for complacency. The Government continues to undertake a range of significant structural reforms to restore and improve national competitiveness. We have made work pay better, improved access to finance for business, streamlined regulatory processes and reduced the administrative burdens on business. We have also implemented changes to make the tax system more competitive in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, improved skill availability in key areas and vigorously opened up new export markets.

Our domestic cost base has improved, making Irish firms more competitive internationally. The exporting sectors of the economy, particularly companies supported by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, are winning new markets and creating jobs at record levels.

Since its introduction, the Action Plan for Jobs has recognised the fundamental link between competitiveness and job creation and has been the key mechanism for driving competitiveness in all areas of economic activity. All of the action plans to date have provided a sharp focus on specific aspects of the competitiveness agenda, particularly in the areas of costs, improving Ireland's global competitiveness ranking and making it easier to start, run and scale a business.

Our improving competitiveness performance is manifest in increased employment, with the latest figures showing another decrease in unemployment to 9.3% from a crisis peak of more than 15%. These show the progress being made. I have strengthened the National Competitiveness Council which reports regularly to the Cabinet sub-committee on economic recovery and jobs. This facilitates timely attention to areas of opportunity for improvement.

The immediate challenge is to sustain the recovery under way by remaining competitive. There is a continuing and urgent necessity to enhance the regulatory environment for start-ups and small and medium enterprises to enable them to trade successfully in increasingly competitive global markets. Further actions and reforms driven by the Action Plan for Jobs 2016 which is being prepared will enable us to further narrow the gap with the world's most competitive countries and achieve our objective of sustainable full employment.

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