Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss competitiveness. I will not consider in detail consumer issues and the talk of a rip-off Ireland which has featured in the debate. However, some points need to be made on Ireland's competitiveness. It is significant that Ireland was renowned in recent years as one of the most competitive countries, possibly in the top five in the world, whereas we have now fallen past 30th place in terms of competitiveness. This is interesting and a wake-up call to all of us that we cannot, as Senator Mansergh stated, sit back on our laurels and expect to continue as successfully as in the past.

There is a wide variety of reasons for this and some clear tangibles upon which the Government must act and deliver if we are to reach a scenario where we have sustainable competitive advantage. Infrastructure is the most important issue, not only physical infrastructure but human infrastructure. If we are to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, the biggest investment we must make is in our human resources or human infrastructure because it is our human currency which will be the most valuable when it comes to procuring foreign direct investment or stimulating indigenous commercial activity.

The Government has made commitments to research and development and lifelong learning but more needs to be done. "The future belongs to small populations who can build empires of the mind" is a quote which could not be more apt in the context of Ireland's future competitiveness. If we are to build a knowledge-based economy which will compete among the nations of the world, we must seek to move away from manufacturing other people's ideas and come up with ideas of our own. It should be Ireland which, as a knowledge-based economy, generates the ideas which can move our manufacturing further up the value chain in regard to other countries and low-cost economies, thereby bringing income into this country.

Senator Paddy Burke pointed out that the fiscal management of the 1980s had much to do with the phenomenal success of Ireland's Celtic tiger. I acknowledge that the Tallaght strategy of the mid-1980s played its part in ensuring that the budgets of 1987 to 1989, inclusive, were successful. The then Fine Gael leader, Mr. Alan Dukes, deserves great credit for this, although it is ironic that it probably led to his ultimate demise as leader of Fine Gael. However, the foundations of success were laid even further back in the 1960s with the introduction of free secondary education and the planned expansion of third level education. We need to continually adapt and improvise as the changing needs of the global economy demand. The Minister for Education and Science yesterday stated that the attraction and retention of postgraduate researchers is critical. We must invest significantly in research and development and create our own intellectual property, or import it if necessary, to ensure we are in a position to compete.

Much has been said about physical infrastructure over the years but there is no doubt that while much has been done, more remains to be done. Dublin has experienced very significant investment and the benefits of this are becoming clear in the context of Luas and other projects. Coming from the north west and having spoken often about regional imbalances, I suggest a significant opportunity exists for the Government to embrace the national spatial strategy in terms of the nine gateway centres, particularly those outside Dublin, and the hubs. We must reach a scenario where we will invest multi-annual capital funding in key projects essential to allowing these areas to develop. In this regard, in unison with the human resources we must have the physical infrastructure to allow the development of telecommunications access, educational facilities and other sectors.

Tax may be an issue as companies look to Ireland as a location for investment. It is important we maintain competitive corporation taxes and worth noting that Costa Rica, Singapore and other areas have low corporation tax. I ask the Minister to consider these points.