Ireland ‘not technically a wealthy nation’

IRELAND cannot technically be called a wealthy nation, despite still rating highly in terms of average income levels, a new report has claimed.

A wide-reaching national economic report by Davy Stockbrokers said high national income levels were “wasted“, mainly by the corporate sector, and investment in the country was “misallocated” during the boom years of 2000 to 2008, resulting in a national infrastructure which should be “far better than it is today”.

“Ireland still fares reasonably well on income per capita tables. At the end of 2009, it was probably ranked eighth in the euro area.” said Davy economist Rossa White.