TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has said there are “clear signs” the economy is stabilising and accused Opposition parties of not having a “coherent strategy” to deal with the economic crisis.
Mr Cowen said the Government had a five-year term to complete “in order to do the job, and that’s what we intend to do”.
Speaking in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, where he addressed a chamber of commerce conference on economic regeneration using the slogan “Yes, We Can” , Mr Cowen said his Government would “get on with its work no matter what is in the polls”.
He told an audience of local business people that “following the tough decisions in the budget, there are clear signs of stabilisation” in the economy.
The December tax figures were “slightly better than forecast”; the rate of increase in unemployment “has slowed down significantly”; consumer sentiment has “stabilised at levels not seen since early 2008”; and the “purchasing managers index for manufacturing is at its highest level in nearly two years”.
While welcoming the “stabilisation”, Mr Cowen said the “next stage is to return to export-led growth”. He claimed that “independent commentators, including the ESRI, now expect the economy to start growing again later this year”.
However, Mr Cowen warned against “complacency”, and said the country still had “a mountain to climb before we have restored our competitive position”.
He said “if we continue to make the adjustment, we can benefit from export-led growth as we did in the 1990s”. The priority for the Government in 2010 was “to drive this return to economic growth and employment”.
He claimed Ireland was “one of the first countries” to devise a “blueprint” to restructure the economy “to target the next wave of economic growth”.
The Government’s vision of Ireland as an “innovation island” was central to plans for economic recovery, and he was “determined to provide also the best incubation environment for Irish entrepreneurial talent, creating a world-class research, innovation and commercialisation system – and unlocking the known strengths of our indigenous business sector”.
The Taoiseach said a major priority for the Government would be “to attract new investment and create jobs”. Another priority “during the first half of the year” was “restructuring the banking system” and “further recapitalisation of the banks”.
Asked about new figures from Revenue which show that a special lower rate of tax available to property developers cost the exchequer €800 million since 2000, Mr Cowen said the scheme was introduced at a time “when there was a need to bring land on to the market because there was a shortage of supply of land at the time, and it [the tax rate] was changed last year because obviously those circumstances have changed”.