Relaxing regulation would hinder Ireland’s recovery, ESRI report warns

Stricter enforcement of regulatory policy could hasten Ireland’s economic recovery, according to one of the country’s leading fiscal think-tanks.

In one of a number of reports issued yesterday, the Economic and Social Research Institute called for more “robust” enforcement of competition and regulatory policy, adding that policymakers must resist the impulse to give in to demands to shelter some parts of the economy from market forces — demands that typically arise during troubled times, the ESRI said.

“Such policies are likely to delay recovery, while offering only transitory benefits,” according to a report.