Ciarán Nugent: Ireland must place a higher value on its competitiveness

Our focus should be on competitiveness in high-wage sectors, and this takes investment

Hospitality gets disproportionate attention relative to its economic importance. This is due to the fact that Irish domestic business is disproportionately focused in this low productivity, low value, and low wage sector.

Discussions on competitiveness in Ireland are generally confined to wage competitiveness, though they’re not the same thing.

In developed economies, minimum wages are only relevant to competitiveness in low value added sectors. In Ireland, this applies almost exclusively to hospitality, which accounts for one in 12 Irish workers.