Ibec welcomes Ireland’s better score card in global report

Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, yesterday welcomed Ireland’s improved position in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report.

Ireland moved up three places to 25th position since the last survey. Ibec however said the report highlighted some key areas where Ireland needs to raise its game.

Reacting to the survey, Ibec director of policy and corporate affairs Mary Rose Burke said: “The improved ranking is welcome, but we have a long way to go. The regulatory burden on business is too high and needs to be reduced.

“More infrastructure investment is needed and we need to ensure the education system keeps pace with the best in the world. The marginal tax rate is way out of line internationally and should be reduced in the budget.”

The Global Competitiveness Report shows Ireland has risen to its second highest position since 2009 on the back of strong results in some of the 12 “pillars of competitiveness” the survey examines.

Among the country’s strongest performing indicators are low inflation, in which Ireland is ranked first, and adoption of new technology where Ireland comes second worldwide.

Welcoming the results, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said an improvement in Ireland’s competitiveness would aid the task of creating jobs in the economy.

“By making it easier for Irish companies to do business in world markets, and more attractive for multinational companies to locate operations here, we can make a real difference to the level of job creation”, he said.

Despite scoring well in a number of facets of the survey, the country performed poorly in many of others.

Not surprisingly, the soundness of Irish banks is considered sixth worst of the 144 countries examined, while access to finance — a common complaint of many SMEs — is ranked 117th.

The Irish macro-economic environment is also held in low esteem, ranked 130th.

In more positive news, Ireland’s education system overall was deemed the fifth best in the world with the quality of primary education ranked seventh.

Ibec welcomed Ireland’s improved overall position but said the report highlighted some key areas where the country needed to raise its game.

Switzerland maintained its position as the world’s most competitive economy, followed by Singapore, the United States, Finland and Germany.

The report examines seven pillars, including labour market efficiency, infrastructure, health, education and macro-economic environment.