Local businesses given food for thought
Jim Doyle, RDA Accountants; Sean Mythen, Chamber President; guest speaker Jim Power from Friends First; Madeline Quirke, Chamber CEO; and Paul Redmond, RDA Accountants, at the breakfast briefing in White's Hotel.
Wednesday March 03 2010
MEMBERS OF Wexford's business community were given plenty to chew on over a breakfast briefing in White's Hotel.
Economist Jim Power was the speaker at the briefing, co-hosted by RDA Accountants and Wexford Chamber, which looked at what lies ahead for the Irish economy.
Mr Power, Chief Economist with Friends First, felt exports are the key to our economic recovery.
'As a small open economy, Ireland needed to refocus on becoming a strong exporting nation once again. Increasing exports of high value goods and services will spur growth in our domestic economy,' Mr Power told his Wexford audience. Mr Power said that during the boom years a high percentage of labour resources were concentrated in the construction sector and consequently the financial services sector, to the neglect of furthering our exporting links.
Speaking on drivers for future economic growth, Mr Power noted that with oil prices on the rise again, investment in alternative energy sources would benefit a small country like Ireland, which is abundant in renewable resources.
Other growth drivers, particularly for the South East region, would be development of the agri-food sector, tourism and the formation of a university, he noted.
Mr Power said that higher quality graduates in the South East would attract more sustainable jobs, leading to long-term employment.
The economist also urged Government to introduce measures to broaden the tax base by bringing more workers into the tax net and to close down so-called 'quangos' in a bid to control public spending and our National Debt.
