Ireland's economic future

[misdog]

Hi all,

In my opinion it is only a matter of years (less than 5?) before the major multinational employers decide keeping their operations in Ireland is just not cost effective. This is especially true in the Call Centre/IT/Manufacturing sectors as more and more jobs move to Eastern Europe/Indian Sub Continent/SE Asia. If this is the true we are heading down a very dangerous path with so much being borrowed by so many, the weak dollar/strong euro and the availability of cheaper and arguably equally as good services in the above mentioned. The robustness of our economy has really suprised me thus far, esp after the .com bust. What are other people's outlook on our future? Have we lost our competitivness or is the hard work of this generation keeping the employers in the Republic?

 

[maranello]

It's been a long time since our wages were competitive compared to places like India.

I always thought the call centre industry was unsuited to a high cost economy like Ireland , but hopefully most of the higher skilled jobs in areas like IT and chemicals are here to stay.

 

[joe sod]

I have also thought the same thoughts. I think Ireland has been very fortunate over the last 15 years. We have come through the high tech recession relatively unscathed. It is also true to say that for decades before the celtic tiger we were very unlucky, we missed out on the post war boom that every other western country experienced. I think the big weakness in our economy is our dependance on high tech multinationals. Our balance of payments surplus is due to multinational exports rather than indiginous exports. Indiginous industry is concentrated in "old economy" industries like food, construction and banking. The food industry will probably contract as Irish agricultural produce contracts. Construction and banking are very dependant on the housing boom. I think it is time for the IDA to switch away from attracting multinationals and to concentrate on our industries.