US governor impressed by Irish `miracle'

The economic "miracle" which has taken place in the Republic holds many lessons for states in the US, the Governor of Oklahoma, Mr Frank Keating, has said.

Mr Keating said underdeveloped states should study the Republic's low corporation tax regime and its emphasis on education. However, he said the Republic faced a major challenge in updating its infrastructure and reducing traffic congestion.

Mr Keating and a team of officials from Oklahoma are in the Republic for several days to examine the Irish economy first-hand and have held discussions with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and several State agencies.

Mr Keating has been mentioned in the US media recently as a possible running mate with Texas Governor, Mr George Bush Jr, in the 2000 presidential election. He is the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association and is a former assistant secretary of the treasury and associate US attorney general.

Mr Keating said there were several similarities between Oklahoma and the Republic. "They are both moving from being agricultural-based economies and both have approximately the same population," he said. Oklahoma would like to see itself as a "little Ireland", he added.

The Republic's model of social partnership was something the delegation wanted to investigate, said Mr Keating. He said in the US his relationship with unions was adversarial, but if the Irish experience stood up to scrutiny, he said he might become "more inclusionary" at home.

He said many Irish business people which the group had met had expressed concern about the dependence of the economy here on foreign multinationals. "I would not be worried about that, once they have put their infrastructure here, they will be very slow to leave," he said.

He said the problem of traffic congestion seemed to be acute in many parts of the State and the Republic would need to find new solutions to the problem. One possibility would be the widespread tolling of roads which has been a success in Oklahoma where many motorists have tolls charged to their credit cards.