Evidence of recovery is compelling

There are still many out there who either refuse to admit that a compelling recovery is under way in the economy or simply do not believe it. The fact is that the evidence is there for all to see and is being added to on a weekly basis.

For those who have believed, mainly for politically motivated reasons, that the economy would never recover unless a left-wing government came in and changed everything, these must be difficult times. For the rest of us, they are relatively good times.

Over the past week, three further pieces of compelling evidence of recovery have been presented. The latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that new car registrations in February were up 25% on the same month last year. In the first two months of the year, registrations were 29% ahead of last year. From an economic and business perspective, it is more revealing that registrations of light commercial vehicles are running 61% ahead of last year. This is a real sign of a recovery in business confidence and is consistent with the strong pick-up in business investment last year.