Written answers

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Economic Competitiveness

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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35. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation considering he is the lead Minister for the Action Plan for Jobs, the steps he will take following the latest National Competitiveness Council report Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2015, outlining that Ireland was the third most expensive location in the euro area for consumer goods and services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18355/15]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I was pleased to welcome the publication of the recent National Competitiveness Council (NCC) which noted our progress in rebuilding our competitiveness but also set out the progress still to be achieved. The report by the NCC has been noted by both the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Jobs. I have asked my Ministerial colleagues to consider appropriate actions, additional to those already contained in the Action Plan for Jobs, in response to the issues identified by the NCC to improve competitiveness that might be progressed through the Cabinet Committee structures and to indicate policy developments over the coming period that may have a positive or negative impact on competitiveness. While the NCC report, prepared under the Action Plan for Jobs 2015, finds that Ireland is an expensive location in which to do business, it also finds that costs have fallen across a range of business inputs since 2009, making Ireland more competitive internationally. This is reflected in our ongoing ability to successfully compete internationally for trade and investment and in our improving performance across a range of international competitiveness benchmarking reports – we have moved from 24th to 15th in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook, for example.

In the longer term productivity performance must be the vehicle through which we must improve our competitiveness and grow the economy. Relentlessly pursuing cost competitiveness remains vital to us as a small, export oriented economy is important but we must also sustain our focus on productivity growth across all sectors of the economy.

Structural reform, as championed through the Action Plan for Jobs, is essential to deliver the necessary productivity gains and improvements in competitiveness. Such reforms are essential to improving the competitiveness of our exporting sectors, which will be at the heart of delivering on our ambition of having full employment by 2018.

In this regard, it is critical that all Government policy reflects the Council’s underlying message that policies which enhance Ireland’s international competitiveness position, reward productivity and develop productive infrastructure capacity are of foremost importance.

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