Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which his Department continues to ensure the competitiveness of this country’s trade and industry sectors in an increasingly competitive world market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22067/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council recently published Ireland’s Competitiveness Scorecard 2023, which provides an analysis of Ireland’s competitiveness performance based on internationally comparable data.

The evidence in the report suggests that Ireland remains a competitive economy, however, the Council highlight that, as an open economy, Ireland is effectively a price taker on most international markets, and many of the drivers of Irish inflation are outside our control.

To better manage Ireland’s exposure to international cost volatility, the Council recommends that focus should remain on implementing domestic reforms to boost productivity and reduce costs where possible, while encouraging market competition and facilitating good regulation.

The White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030,published in December 2022, sets out Ireland’s industrial policy for the medium to long-term, building on Ireland’s economic strengths of an open economy with strong trade and foreign direct investment, a vibrant innovation hub, and a resilient labour market.

The competitiveness of the enterprise environment is determined by a mix of factors including productivity, business costs, access to finance, skills, infrastructure, taxation, and regulation. Through the White Paper, we are working on a cross-Government basis to address these key issues, with attention paid to the specific challenges facing start-ups and entrepreneurship, such as securing initial capital and maintaining a stable pipeline of research talent.

As part of the White Paper process, my Department is leading on the development of consecutive two-year Implementation Plans of cross-Government activity to implement the White Paper commitments. The Implementation Plans will focus on delivery of key initiatives or projects under each of the seven priority objectives. The first Implementation Plan is due to be submitted to Cabinet later this month and will be published shortly thereafter.