Call to decentralise power in institutions

POWER, not jobs, should be decentralised by government and vested in regional institutions, a business conference in Waterford heard yesterday.

Dr Eoin O’Leary from the Department of Economics at University College Cork, said the Government could risk an under-performance of the economy by following a “one-size fits all” approach to enterprise policy. He said an alternative approach, with power diverted to regional institutions, could prove more beneficial.

“It’s not decentralisation of public sector jobs that’s important, but the decentralisation of power,” Dr O’Leary suggested. “For Ireland to grow we need regional power to be devolved into regional centres.”