Nation needs a long-term vision

THE Labour Party conference this weekend cited the introduction of a higher rate of income tax for higher earners and the maintenance of employment as desirable political objectives in the current economic turmoil.

But as the politicians also avert their gaze to the longer term they must embrace strong, credible and realistic policies that result in the creation of productive wealth, jobs and recovering living standards.

We have learned a painful lesson that our nation’s prosperity cannot be overwhelmingly based on profligate lending by irresponsible banks for speculative property development, property inflation and the use of tax incentives that destabilise and unbalance markets.

This has resulted, for example, in a plethora of hotels and partially completed apartment complexes being developed on the back of special tax incentives intended to foster urban renewal but which, in too many instances, have proven to have no sustainable future.

The openness of Ireland’s economy has been demonstrated once again last week with the publication of the Quarterly National Accounts by the CSO. The combined value of our imports and exports for 2008 amounted to €€=272 billion compared to our Gross Domestic Product of €163 billion.

Our taxation policies and our legal infrastructure must be perceived internationally to be competitive and attractive as well as being perceived at home as appropriate, fair and equitable. One industry that has benefited where Ireland has gained a competitive edge as a consequence of appropriate infrastructure and attractive tax policies is aircraft leasing, a fledgling industry launched in Shannon in 1975 by the late Tony Ryan.

All international disputes within the aircraft leasing sector are now heard in Dublin, regardless of which country they claim originates in. The Irish court system enables companies to defend their intellectual property rights in a speedier and more cost-effective manner than in other jurisdictions and this is a reflection of the international esteem of the Irish commercial court.

An international internet-based registry of financial interests in mobile assets has been established in Dublin under the supervision of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The consequences of Ireland’s strength in the aircraft leasing business is that about 3,400 aircraft – about 18% of all commercial aircraft in the world, are leased from Ireland and this sustains about 1,000 jobs of excellent quality.

The longer-term perspective of the politicians must therefore seek to emulate this breadth of vision and an understanding of what the practical, achievable components of competitiveness are. This needs to the translated, in a convincing manner, across the spectrum of the economy. Politicians must not shy away from advocacy of productive wealth and the prosperity of those who create this.

Myles Duffy

Bellevue Avenue

Glenageary

Co Dublin