Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2021
183. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the countries from which he sees the greatest competition for Ireland over the next five years in respect of the manufacturing and services sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61072/21]
View answerAs a small, open economy, Ireland is highly integrated into many global supply chains, with Irish firms competing on a world stage. The fact we are such an open economy means it is important that the Irish economy is competitive when compared to all economies not just a small number.
Ensuring that the economy remains competitive when compared to peers will help ensure continued and sustainable economic growth over the next five years.
In 2020, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council published Ireland’s Competitiveness Scorecard 2020, which gathered together a wide range of economic indicators on Ireland’s competitiveness position compared to other economies. The report found that, at the start of 2020, the Irish economy was continuing to perform well. It was within the top 20% of the countries in the major international competitiveness rankings.
This was also reflected in other international indices with the 2019 World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report ranking Ireland as the 24th most competitive economy globally and the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook ranked Ireland 13th out of 64 economies in 2021.
In September, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) published Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2021, which identified four broad medium- and long-term strategic challenges aimed at enhancing Ireland’s competitiveness and productivity performance and made 20 targeted and actionable recommendations to Government in order to secure an improvement in the standard of living for all of society.
The Government has officially responded to all 20 of the recommendations that were set out by the NCPC, indicating the range of actions and reforms currently or soon to be in train in response to the recommendations. These actions will support Ireland’s competitive position in the coming five years.
