The Republic jumped 21 percentage points in an "economic freedom" index last year, and is now the eighth "freest" state in the world, the Edmund Burke Institute (EBI) said yesterday. But the institute, which publishes the Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report in Ireland, said the way the index was generated overlooked the State's "relatively harsh treatment of the domestic - i.e. noninternationally traded - economy", giving the Republic an artificially high score.
EBI directors Mr Paul MacDonnell and Mr Moore McDowell said overall the report, which saw the Republic's mark out of 10 jump to 8.6 from 6.5, was "an outstanding endorsement of our economic success".
"One factor not represented within the report is the stark imbalance of economic risk and income between public and private sector workers," they added. "Public sector workers earn around 30 to 40 per cent more than private sector workers, whilst effectively taking no risk in their participation within the economy."
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