Minister wants Ireland in top five globally for competitiveness

Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Mary Mitchell-O'Connor has said her ambition is to make Ireland one of the top five-ranking countries in the globe for competitiveness by 2020.

In a wide-ranging speech on Friday morning, Ms Mitchell-O’Connor said Irish people should not regard Brexit as a “single event” but as a series of changes that will take place over a longer space of time.

She also said she believes the British relationship with Europe post-Brexit will be easily compared with those of other countries outside the EU.

She said that relationship will be “tailored” and will be unlike any other relationship that a non-member state has with the EU.

“The British have no interest in returning to a world of extensive trade barriers,” she said.

“I expect, in time, they will seek a bespoke agreement with Europe.

"I don't think they'll seek to trade on any existing model of trade, such as Norway, Switzerland, Canada or Turkey. "

Ms Mitchell-O’Connor was speaking at a Dublin Chamber of Commerce Event, at which he predicted the immediate future would be uncertain, but could also be exciting.

She said: “By 2020, it is my ambition to bring Ireland into a top five ranking position when it comes to competitiveness.

“Irish people are very creative; our next phase of growth will be about commercialising our creativity.”

Referring to Dublin, she said she wanted the capital to be one of the most globally focused cities in Europe. She said she wants Dublin to be one of the cities offering “a lifestyle and quality of life unparalleled in Europe”.

“In Dublin, employment levels are only 3 per cent off what they were during their highest point,” she said.

"It is clear based on a range of economic indicators, including arrivals at Dublin Airport, Dublin Port throughput, public passenger journeys, office vacancy rates, office rents and residential rents, that in many areas economic activity in Dublin is back at or close to peak levels."

Brexit

Setting out her thoughts on Brexit, she said: “We shouldn’t see Brexit as a single event. Brexit will permanently realign the political and trade relationships between Britain and Europe.

“All of us will have to reposition ourselves towards a new ‘normal’.”

She said, having recently visited three London ministers in Whitehall, it was still unclear what type of trade relationship they were looking for with Europe, but that "they've a clear desire for free trade".

She said “as a Government Minister, I will not be shy or coy about seeking the most advantageous outcome for Ireland in those negotiations.”