Ireland has to always worry about what could go wrong, says OECD chief

The chief of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — a regular visitor during the financial crisis — has warned that, despite an impressive economic recovery, Ireland should never forget it’s a small country that belongs to “the Avis Club”.

The speech yesterday by secretary general Angel Gurría to a gathering organised by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe officially marked the publication by the OECD of its major study on Ireland, which the international think tank publishes every two years, or so.

Mr Gurría — a former finance minister of Mexico at times of severe financial stress for that country — said the Avis Club moniker referred to the famous marketing line once used by the car hire firm that proclaimed: “When you’re only No 2, you try harder.”