The Irish economy is now the fifth most competitive in the world, according to the latest report from the World Economic Forum, the Geneva based economic think tank.
Ireland now lags behind only the US, Singapore, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in term of competitiveness, according to its calculations.
The WEF "growth competitiveness" ranking, which place Ireland fifth, are a measure of the factors contributing to current economic growth and productivity. However, in a separate ranking from the Geneva-based organisation - which aims to measure whether growth is sustainable over a long period - Ireland has slipped to 22nd from 19th.
This current competitiveness index ranking, which aims to measure the sustainability of prosperity, indicates that the economy may have difficulty remaining a leading performer in terms of growth in the long term.
The main reasons for our high levels of growth competitiveness are the high level of spending on research and development, the openness of the economy and access to credit for business.
The growth competitiveness index measures the factors which contribute to strong growth in an economy, measured as the rate of change of Gross Domestic Product per person.
However, the relative lack of access to foreign capital markets and access to external finance as well as the lacklustre performance of the stock market are seen as negatives.
Ireland's current competitiveness advantages - the factors which will contribute to a continuation of growth - include the good education system, exports and an independent legal framework. However, it is overall infrastructure and the poor quality of our roads which hold the ranking back and mean that Ireland ranks relatively lowly on this criteria. On overall infrastructure, Ireland ranks only in 36th place behind even the Slovak Republic and only marginally ahead of Greece, the lowest ranked country in the EU.
On road infrastructure, Ireland ranks in 37th place with only Greece in a worse position among the EU states.
In general terms, the World Economic Forum points to the high marginal rate of tax, the high levels of VAT and even the median income tax rate as serious disadvantages for our competitiveness.
Ireland achieves only 45th place in terms of the top marginal income tax rate, ahead of many EU countries such as Spain, Germany and France but below the US, the UK, Greece and Italy.
The median tax rate is lower ranked with Ireland at 53rd place, ahead only of France, Bulgaria, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark and Ecuador. In contrast the corporate tax rate got a number one ranking, the highest possible and number one spot, ahead of Hong Kong at 16 per cent.
Other disadvantages include wage setting, the impact of the minimum wage and litigation costs, the WEF found.
On a more positive note, e-commerce infrastructure and use of the Internet are both positive.
On the use of cellular phones Ireland ranks 22nd with Finland, Sweden and Israel taking the top three places. For the overall telephone service Ireland ranks 27th with only Italy and France lower ranking among EU countries.
On pay and productivity Ireland comes in at 28th place, ahead of most EU States but behind , the US, the UK, Austria and Denmark.
