‘No guarantee’ costs will be contained in upturn

The south-west’s foreign direct investment chief has warned there is no guarantee the competitiveness regained during the recession will be protected as the economy begins to recover.

One of the few positives of the downturn was that the cost of doing business fell and in doing so made Ireland a more favourable location for attracting investment.

IDA Ireland South-West regional manager Ray O’Connor warned against complacency as the economy picks up, saying that a repeat of the mistakes of the past would see us jeopardise that progress by “pricing ourselves out of the market”.