Ireland will not be able to sustain its place in the economic elite unless it succeeds in developing a fairer society, a conference in Cork heard yesterday. The Irish Congress of Trades Unions' general secretary Mr Peter Cassells told the annual UCC Commerce & Economics Society business conference that, having built the foundations of a successful economy, "our biggest challenge now is to create a fair society".
"A booming economy is not an end in itself. The two most valuable criteria for measuring our economic success are the extent to which its benefits are shared fairly and its impact on the quality of life . . . We must increase the share of our prosperity going to low-paid workers," Mr Cassells said.
A recent report from the Western Development Commission showed that, of the 13,780 jobs created by IDA Ireland nationally in 2000, less than 10 per cent or 1,246 went to the seven western counties.
Mr David Went, the group chief executive of Irish Life & Permanent, said, "I think there is a responsibility for any country that is enjoying the kind of success we are enjoying currently to reflect on the kind of society they wish to construct. I don't think we have done that adequately, and our failure to do so becomes clear in a number of different ways - the appalling hostility which greets so many refugees or just plain economic migrants in this country; the crisis of confidence amongst caring professions like teachers and nurses; the growing disparity between those who are benefiting from the Celtic Tiger and those who aren't."
Mr Colin Hunt, chief economist, Goodbody Stockbrokers, said that, while the planners in Brussels favoured a slowdown in the Irish economy, it was vital that Ireland maintained its competitive position and, given the open nature of its economy, continued to accommodate growth.
"The two key areas of policy which we should be addressing are the need to increase the labour supply so as to prevent wage inflation and the need to improve infrastructure to allow us to remain competitive in a very competitive situation," Mr Hunt said.
Mr Alf Smiddy, chief executive of Beamish & Crawford, told delegates that the Irish drinks industry was not immune to the consolidation occurring in the sector globally.
Employment in the brewing industry in Ireland fell 18 per cent between 1990 and 2000 and rationalisation is expected to continue.
Success for food manufacturers in the post-BSE world will require a deeper understanding of the profile of potential customers. Mr Michael Duffy, chief executive of An Bord Bia, told the annual business conference in UCC yesterday that there would be some surprises in store for the industry, if the results of recent market research into 18-24 year olds was anything to go by.
The research grouped people by trait, based on television characters.
All of this was by way of proving that traditional cooking skills and eating habits were on the decline and food producers and marketeers would have to respond.
It would take some time for the beef situation to stabilise but Irish controls continued to be the best in Europe and the message was that Irish beef was safe for consumers. Nevertheless, those who produced food and those who presented it for sale to the consumers were facing new challenges in a consumer-led society, he added.
