Economy has growth potential: Ibec

Businesses can generate the growth to drag Ireland out of recession and transform it back into the booming economy that existed in the early 1990s according to business body Ibec.

Yesterday, Ibec launched Driving Ireland’s Recovery campaign: The business community’s ambition for Ireland.

The plan said Ireland can achieve growth of between 3% and 4% for the next 20 years — twice the average expected EU growth rate.

“Business can generate the growth needed to create jobs, overcome our debt burden and deliver the prosperity, public services, and quality of life that this country can legitimately aspire to,” said Ibec director general Danny McCoy.

“There is no reason why Ireland cannot be one of the EU’s most prosperous and successful regions and the best country in the world to do business.”

Ibec rationalises its growth forecasts on the basis of rapid economic growth prior to 2008. This was based on a combination of increased productivity and increased labour supply.

Ibec’s report said as a result of the collapse of the construction industry, there is now room for the indigenous enterprise sector to grow.

The labour supply source is also expected to grow as recent emigrants return.

The report cites figures from the 2011 census which found nearly half of the 53,000 people who came to live in Ireland were returned emigrants. It notes that, in the short term, the emphasis most be on getting “high quality stock unemployed back into the workforce”.

“All of this means we have the capacity to recover faster and stronger than others. We have done it before, we can do it again. Yes, there are challenges, and they not insignificant, but we have created momentum.

“We are steadily regaining the trust and belief of our competitors, financial markets and international commentators. We now need to believe it ourselves and bring that confidence home,” said Mr McCoy.