Mediocre is not a word that is used very often about the Irish economy these days. We seem to have swung from basket case to the envy of the world, unexpectedly, through our own genius, and of course, permanently.

That being the case, in political life we can get on with the blood sport. Investigative journalists reveal that the minister with responsibility for such simple and solved-forever matters as enterprise, trade and employment is actually spending her time counting down 22 days to an entitlement to a State pension.

Never mind that the facts of the particular piece were wrong or that there was no evidence of Mary Harney doing any counting. Never mind that a couple of weeks ago, large areas of mediocrity in the economic and social standing of this State were again pointed out by the National Competitiveness Council.

If in 10, or even five years' time, it becomes clear this country is stuck in mediocrity, it will be no satisfaction that the council will be able to say it told us so.

Sure, the blood sport in the meantime will have been entertaining. Maybe we'll argue that the slaying of whoever happens to be in political power will have had the ritual art, grace and elegance of a bullfight. As the horses drag away the corpses of the Mary Harneys, Bertie Aherns, John Brutons and Ruairi Quinns over the coming years, and the crowds cheer in anticipation of the next bucking bull charging into the arena only to face the same fate, the council will probably continue to issue boring reports.

"Our infrastructure is one of the worst. Our technology is not anything as good as we think it is. Our research and development is very patchy. We are saved by a small number of large multinationals. We are too slow in implementing change in the public sector."

The council was established in 1997. It is a small group of people, some involved in the social partnership process, some not, like its chairman Brian Patterson of Waterford Wedgwood. It is backed up by the research capabilities of Forfas. Its style is no-nonsense, fact-based reporting.

The latest report tracks the State's competitiveness on no less than 166 international measures. Of those, year by year comparisons are available only for 67. Among these, we have improved in 29, disimproved in 33 and remained unchanged in five. We are not doing so brilliantly, actually, and not just in the well-rehearsed areas of transport and housing, inflation and wage costs.

Take the following examples:

The Republic's position in terms of fixed phone lines per 100 inhabitants is in the bottom quarter of countries;

A year's rental of a 50 kilometre line with two Mb/sec capacity is more than three times as expensive as in the best-performing country, Finland (although the cost of lines to the US is somewhat better);

We are in the third quarter in a basket of costs of business calls;

Analogue lines cost three times as much as in Sweden;

Mobile phone usage lags well behind Scandinavia and Italy.

The council says: "Ireland's international standing in relation to the provision of telecommunications infrastructure and advanced services remains at variance with the objective of achieving a leadership position in key strategic sectors of the emerging digital or information economy".

Let us not delude ourselves, in other words, that we are easily on the way to being a high-tech capital of Europe. The picture in relation to research and development is also sobering. A third of all business R&D investment is carried out by a mere 10 firms and these are, inevitably, foreign-owned companies. Foreign-owned companies account for two-thirds of business R&D in the Republic.

Is the foreign-owned sector in Ireland a hive of R&D activity? No. Only a quarter of them carry out any R&D at all here. Among Irish-owned firms, another 10 in the food and software sector account for 25 per cent of total business R&D. This is a heavy concentration.

It means, for one thing, that many people in the private sector work in an environment where R&D is completely absent, or far removed geographically. As for R&D expenditure in higher education and by Government, the council says it "remains at a level comparable with some of the least developed countries of the OECD". So much for Europe's shining light.

There is much more in the annual report of the council. The fundamental premise behind its analysis is the factors which worked for today's success don't guarantee success going forward. And even if they could so do, those factors may not persist.

The mere fact of economic success today cannot be relied on as a factor to deliver sustained success for tomorrow. Constant monitoring, constant questioning and constant improvement are essential.

Oliver O'Connor is editor of the monthly publication, Finance. E-mail: ooconnor@indigo.ie