It’s all well and good attracting American and other foreign companies, but its at the stage where our Governments are staking everything on foreign investment. 400,000+ unemployed proves that such strategies don’t work. We need to be investing in ourselves. Why can’t we stand on our own two feet? We’re supposed to be a bright, highly educated race. We have natural resources in Abundance, yet we spend billions every year buying energy. What’s to stop us using, and even exporting our own energy? Lack of political will is the obvious answer. If a country like Norway can go from the poorest country in Europe to one of the richest in a very short period of time, then why can’t we? All we really need is a government full of proper leaders and a genuine desire to make Ireland a proper independent country.

As Keegan alluded to: other countries are catching up with their tax regimes. Most of these companies don’t give a damn about Ireland. If they get a better offer somewhere else they’ll up sticks and go. We need to have a plan B. we don’t.

Norways wealth comes almost entirely from huge oil reserves in the North Sea. They also stayed out if the EU so kept all their fishing rights (we lost a lot in that area when we joined). Given the shell to sea campaign and more recent one about drilling off dalkey do you really think Ireland is in a position to start large scale oil exploration (assuming we find anything). Norway is not a country we can just copy.

Very well said. Norway is a prime example of what can be achieved with nobody robbing out of the till. Everyone has a better standard of life. Our government have no vision of a future they are just putting out fires with money and make hasty sessions based and public opinion. If something is rotten u chuck it out not keep it in the fridge. Time for this gov to be shown the door

This country needs to now finally grow up and NOT look back to the days when foreign nannies had to be persuaded to come in and show us ‘how it’s done’.
Look on 2000 – 2010 as our country’s teenage years when Ireland thought it knew it all but fcukd up badly due to over-exuberance and being influenced by bad company.
Now we need to grow up, take control, be realistic and above all, do it for ourselves. We need to plan for transition:
From FDI to DIY.
#FDI2DIY

Funnily enough I read recently that Irish companies employ almost as many people in the USA….not bad number from a small place like Ireland….we do need to be investing in diy rather than trying to attract investment that may not give employment to our long line of jobless people rather to people from outside the state with the skills needed for such jobs such as languages…we do need to be emulating some of the economic models of similar sized countries such as Singapore, Israel or Denmark…..and please don’t nag me about including Israel in my suggestions….they do have some things that we can learn from

Everyone says show the government the door, but what’s plan B? Who is going to do better? Sinn ” we have no real policies except say no to everything” Fein? No matter who is in power, they will do the same as current and past gimps.

How is the job scenario of Ireland in Technology and Computer Science sector ??

Sounds like code for Ireland do not change your corp tax or chase us for anymore. Jeesuz could these people get anymore greedier?

But will the people ,the barrier for wage,s are reduced ,the cost of living has gone up ,the proportion,s don’t balance

I assume by Ireland they mean only Dublin, cork, Galway and Dundalk.