Economic growth - Businesses need help to succeed

WITH good news as rare as hen’s teeth nowadays, it is heartening to learn that the latest export figures show our export industry is burgeoning.

While one swallow may not make a summer, the Central Statistic Office figures put the value of Irish goods sold abroad in December at more than €7.2 billion, a 21% increase compared to a year earlier.

The figures confirm that the economy is slowly recovering, a trend driven mainly but not exclusively by the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. This is further proof, if it were needed, of the fundamental importance of copper-fastening Ireland’s 12.5% corporation tax rate which has been a major factor in attracting multinational companies to locate here.