Dublin dominance ‘threatens economy’

THE Government should reduce the dominance of Dublin in the economy, as well as continuing to deregulate key sectors of it if the Irish success story is to continue, delegates heard.

Guest speaker John Peet, Europe Editor of The Economist magazine, told the conference that the country would face two major issues in the coming years. The Dublin phenomenon was one, the property sector another.

“The dominance of Dublin is a problem,” he said. “Dublin has a weight in the Irish economy that is out of all proportion to most other countries: something like one-third of the population and about 50% of gross domestic product (GDP). So I think trying to shift activity away from Dublin (in the shape of the decentralisation plan) is a very important plus.”

Property prices were another potential problem, he believed. “Ireland is unusually dependent on the property sector, something like 15% of all GDP is associated with construction, and there is a possibility of a property price correction or crash which could cause some damage.”

Another guest speaker, Dr Sean Barrett of Trinity College Dublin, said while “no protected organisation ever willingly faces competition”, the Government needed to “attack restrictive practices throughout the Irish economy wherever they occur.

“Breaking up the Aer Rianta monopoly was a good, pro-competition decision, for which the Government deserves credit,” he said. However, he added that full deregulation of other key sectors, such as bus transport, was necessary, too.