It's always darkest before the dawn

In recent weeks contrasts within the Irish economy have continued to emerge. At a glance you could surmise that we continue to be amongst the basket-cases of Europe. Gloomy growth forecasts from trusted sources such as the ESRI predict the economy will grow by 0.9% next year, a downgrade from a previous prediction of 2.3%.

The unemployment rate refuses to abate. In fact the media is getting so tired of the figures they are becoming more creative. Recent reports claimed the number of women out of work for more than a year has soared by a fifth. Official figures show overall unemployment remains at 14.2% in February. We have seen record numbers attend emigration jobs fares such as the Working Abroad Expo across Ireland. Moody’s predict Ireland will face tough challenges regaining market access in 2013 - which might well lead to yet another trip to the Troika. The European crisis roars on and although early media indications suggest a yes vote, the implications of a failure to ratify the upcoming referendum on the Fiscal Treaty suggests a rather worrying few years for our economic prosperity.

With all of this in mind, I think of a line from Florence and the Machines’ song “Shake it out” - It's always darkest before the dawn. We’re bombarded with the depressing news headlines listed above but I get a sense of contradiction when you consider the following recent headline stories. Abbott invests €85 million to expand Irish plant, Allergan invests €350 million, Sanofi unveils €150 million to expand Irish plant, Merck opens €100 million R&D Centre, Pfizer to spend €200 million and so on and so on. Now, consider that this is just in one sector which confirms Ireland as the world's biggest net exporter of pharmaceuticals. We can also look at other stand out sectors in terms of current output and future expectations. The funds industry for example – now employing over 11,000 people in the administration of €1.8 trillion of assets. PepsiCo, Lilly, Microsoft and Paypal are all more amazing stories of 2012, which is just over two months old!

And the best news is that it’s not just the capital reaping the benefits - Sligo, Cork, Westport, Waterford, Carlow and Dundalk are the locations welcoming this major investment, which will also lead to knock-on jobs throughout their local communities. In my neck of the woods, Galway and Limerick are seeing the fruits of a strong multinational market, coupled with inward investment and commitment by large organisations to the region. Galway is now firmly established as the medical devices capital of Ireland, with companies like Medtronics and Boston Scientific acting as the pillar to many other organisations in the same sector. They take full advantage of the availability of skilled labour in a range of technical areas including R&D, design and manufacturing. Limerick and the mid-west is probably best served from the financial services sector which includes of course, the funds industry. Northern Trust continues to expand in the region and GE has an ever-growing presence as well as a substantial aircraft leasing industry in the Shannon Free Zone.

There are many challenges ahead, of that there is no doubt. But we cannot control the European issue and it’s too late to ‘un-guarantee’ the banks. While these and related issues are not going to go away anytime soon we should focus our attention on the positives and the potential it brings - the aggressive investments, the government focus on entrepreneurialism and the solid industry infrastructure that is now emerging across the country. If we all keep our focus on that, the dawn must surely be very close by.

Bobby O'Connor
Business Director
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Ireland Inc - Still open for business

With all the negative publicity about Ireland Inc, it is easy to forget what Ireland has going for it at the moment. In an attempt to bring some positivity into the discourse I am going to argue why we should be optimistic about the future.

Ok, so everyone is going to suffer higher taxation and less money in the pocket over the next few years. However we can be thankful for the job the IDA has done and continues to do to bring Foreign Direct Investment in to Ireland, particularly from the United States. Ireland’s low corporation tax is one of the key drivers for companies to choose Ireland as their EMEA headquarters, but there are a number of reasons why they decide to stay here once they have come.

These include a growing competiveness due to the economic adjustment that is taking place reflected in reduced salaries and property prices. Salaries have reduced between 5-20% over the last 2 years and commercial property by a staggering 55%. Cost of living has also dropped, with consumer prices dropping by 1.7% in 2009.

Ireland has some of best people in the world. So what does that mean?! We are highly educated with sought after skills and technical knowledge that other countries simply can’t compete with. Feedback from the international business community is that businesses in Ireland have a strong work ethic and high productivity in comparison with other nations. Irish staff have also proved to be adaptable and flexible in testing times. In addition, we have a diverse workforce of many different nationalities with different language skills, which mean we are able to support European operations from Ireland.

Ireland is seen as a leader in promoting the green agenda and protecting business interests by having strong intellectual property protection.

Over the last 10 years Ireland’s infrastructure has undertaken an immense overhaul. We now have a road network to be proud of and finally, a second terminal at Dublin airport.

And there’s more…Of the worlds top 10 ICT companies, 7 chose Ireland as the hub to base themselves. We have 16 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies operating here and over 50% of the worlds top banks have chosen Ireland as a base.

As long as Ireland’s Corporation Tax continues to be competitive at 12.5% we have a lot to be positive about. The multinational companies will continue to employ hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland, and provide capital and employment when times are tough. A few steps back, maybe, but we’ll stride again.