Ibec unveils action plan with 50 ideas to drive growth in economy

Employers’ group Ibec yesterday unveiled its “Action Plan for Recovery” which included 50 ideas to drive growth in the economy.

The policies were broken down into three areas — support job creation, restore domestic demand, and deliver world class public services.

Speaking at the launch, Ibec director general Danny McCoy said: “The positive outcome from the recent EU summit should reduce Ireland’s sovereign debt burden and improve sustainability, but to make real progress we need economic growth to take off. Exports are doing well, but we need all sectors of the economy to fire on all cylinders.

“This week’s announcement by Government on infrastructure projects is a step in the right direction but we need an ambitious growth strategy that covers the whole economy.

“Decisive action is needed to restore consumer spending, reform the labour market, and provide new funding streams to finance business start-ups and expansion.

“We are realists and none of the stand-alone actions we propose is a game changer. There is no simple, single solution: the Government and private sector need to take action on a wide range of fronts.”

Ibec would like to see indigenous firms increase their exports to 25% of total exports — up from 15%.

Among the policy recommendations is the establishment of a State funded investment bank to improve the flow of credit.

Ibec also wants real estate investment trusts introduced into the Irish market to enable international investment in the property market.

It would like visas to be automatically granted to graduates from the top 250 technical universities in the world in an effort to attract skilled labour.

Ibec would also like to see a reform of pension rules to allow the partial early release of additional voluntary contribution pension and personal pension savings.

It is also calling for reform of the public sector above what is envisaged by the Croke Park agreement; develop a regional growth policy; calibrate a new funding model for third-level education and introduce policies aimed at easing conditions of employment.

It says its plan is “revenue neutral if not revenue positive.”

“The Irish economy has the potential to grow by 3-4% per year over the next 20 years, but to achieve this we need to reform the labour market, modernise the public sector and boost investment and economic activity.

“Growth will deliver the recovery, but we can’t just sit back and wait for it to happen. The right policies can help restore our economic fortunes, but the wrong ones will prolong the economic pain,” Mr McCoy said.