Republic’s competitiveness damaged by failure to address ‘basic requirements’

IRELAND’s global competitiveness could be in danger of being eroded by the failure to address “basic requirements” such as infrastructure, health and primary education as well as macro-economic stability, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The latest edition of the WEFs annual Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) — published yesterday — ranks Ireland as the 22nd most competitive nation out of a survey of 134 global economies. It is the third successive year that Ireland’s ranking has not changed, but the latest edition of the Index shows a decline in scores for this country’s basic infrastructure ranking and for Ireland’s macro-economic stability from the same survey last year.

The index listed as the most problematic factors for doing business in Ireland such issues as “inadequate supply of infrastructure”, “inflation”, “inefficient Government bureaucracy” and “restrictive labour regulations”. Public health, tax rates, national workforce work ethic, Government stability and lack of corruption were given as good factors for doing business here.