The chief executive of IDA Ireland, Mr Sean Dorgan, has warned that winning new inward investment "would not be easy". His comments come the day after a Forfás report was published showing inward investment plummeted by 60 per cent last year.
Recent economic success had changed the Republic's profile and "we are now competing for a different type of business to the labour-intensive manufacturing, which we so successfully won, of the past four decades," he told a Waterford Institute of Technology conference "Steering the Irish Economy" in Wexford yesterday. Mr Dorgan highlighted the threats and opportunities facing the Irish economy.
"We must achieve a better and more equitable regional balance in investment," Mr Dorgan said.
"We have to attempt this despite current imbalances in the strengths and advantages available regionally," he added.
Mr Dorgan stressed that, in order to attract investors to locations outside of Dublin, regions must provide the necessary resources, such as a highly skilled workforce, good infrastructure and services, and the right attitude.
"In the new global economic order, flexibility and agility are at a premium. The locations that offer both high-level skills and rapid responses to changing needs have the best chance of being competitive and successful.
"We in IDA Ireland believe strongly that regions must agree to come together and act cohesively. Frequently in Ireland, too frequently in fact, competition and ambition tends to be local. While this is laudable, it is not likely to be successful when competition for investments is global."
Another speaker at the Wexford event, Friends First chief economist Mr Jim Power, also acknowledged the challenges facing the Irish economy.
"The Celtic Tiger is not dead but limping. Care and very skilful management is required, I have no political bias but I believe that, for the past five years, the country took very little to govern. The Government were faced with very few difficult decisions.
"There should be global recovery in the next 18 months but there are risks and we can't afford to be complacent and difficult decisions will have to be made."
Mr Power acknowledged that cuts in spending were required but warned the Government to exercise caution.
"Controlling public spending is essential but it can't be undiscriminatory. The Government has to target spending carefully and target cutbacks."
Rather than cut back on spending on infrastructure, which Mr Power described as "third world", he sought the abandonment of benchmarking.
"I know such a comment will be unpopular in certain circles but I don't think benchmarking should be delivered. The public sector need to realise their difference from the private sector. The payment of €1.2 billion would have to be made through increased taxation and this is not an optimal situation for public finance."
