At a breakfast briefing in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, April 18th, IBEC launched its 'Driving Ireland's Recovery campaign: The business community's ambition for Ireland', and said the Irish economy has the potential to grow by 3-4% per year, over twice the EU average, over the next 20 years.
To achieve this, IBEC said we need to adapt the successful economic model that delivered the sustainable, pre-property boom growth of the 1990s, and take decisive steps to address immediate economic challenges.
At the briefing IBEC Director General Danny McCoy said: "Today the business community declares its ambition to drive the recovery. Business can generate the growth needed to create jobs, overcome our debt burden and deliver the prosperity, public services, and quality of life that this country can legitimately aspire to.
There is no reason why Ireland cannot be one of the EU's most prosperous and successful regions and the best country in the world to do business.
"The focus must move from austerity and stabilisation, to growth and possibility. We have a large and educated workforce; our indigenous companies have the ability to match the productivity of the multinationals and our infrastructure is vastly improved.
The property boom sucked investment and talent from other parts of the economy, we now need to redirect and reinvest these elements in a way that delivers sustainable growth.
"All of this means we have the capacity to recover faster and stronger than others. We have done it before; we can do it again. Yes there are challenges and they not insignificant, but we have created momentum.
We are steadily regaining the trust and belief of our competitors, financial markets and international commentators. We now need to believe it ourselves and bring that confidence home.
"IBEC and the business community have a central role to play in driving growth and creating jobs. We take this responsibility very seriously and have outlined a range of actions needed to realise this ambition," said Mr McCoy.
In its 'Driving Ireland's Recovery' campaign, IBEC set out how it is going to address four key economic challenges facing the country:
· Keeping Ireland strong in Europe
· Restoring domestic demand
· Supporting job creation
· Delivering world-class public services
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"Over the next year we will be relentless in bringing our ambition for Ireland to the attention of all key stakeholders, domestic and international; implementing the objectives we have set out for ourselves and ensuring that we promote the right environment for business to drive Ireland's recovery," concluded Mr McCoy.
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