Very pleased to welcome you here this morning at the launch of the OECD’s Economic Survey and particularly to welcome Dr Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, back to Ireland.
· We’ve been members of the OECD since 1961, and this is not our first Economic Survey. The OECD produces an in-depth Economic Survey of its member countries every two years, but today’s publication could not have been more timely or more relevant. The substance of this report goes to the heart of the most important political and economic challenge facing this country. The Survey makes its recommendations under four headings - Rebalancing the Economy, Reinvigorating Growth, Pathways to Jobs, Boosting Innovation –which are the key challenges which we as a country are grappling with right now.
· Ireland is in a very different place from the one two years ago, when the last OECD Economic Survey issued. We have taken and implemented difficult decisions, but it is working. We achieved a second successive year of growth in 2012. There are at last some positive signs on the labour market. And we will exit, successfully, from our EU/IMF programme later this year. There are significant challenges facing us, but Ireland is emerging from the crisis.
· As Tanaiste and as a Member of the Government, I’m not here to endorse the OECD’s Survey or its recommendations. That’s not what the Survey is for. Its value lies is in the expertise, experience and thoroughness that have gone into its preparation. That, along the reputation of the OECD as an unparalleled authority on economic and social issues, is the value added here.
· And when the OECD Survey finds that Ireland is recovering, that it is emerging from its difficulties – and it does - then international observers and markets will take notice.
· Dr Gurria will present the Survey and its findings to you in a moment. The Government is grateful for this important contribution to the debate. We will study it carefully, and pay close attention to its recommendations. Of course, as Government we will take the responsibility for making the decisions which need to be taken, and which we as Government are mandated by the Irish people to take.
· When I met Dr. Gurria last March at the OECD ministerial council meeting, I wanted to talk to him about the Youth Employment. In particular, I wanted to take advantage of the OECD’s expertise to ensure that we in this country are doing everything that could be done to meet the challenge of youth unemployment. I feel strongly that this is one of the gravest and most intractable difficulties facing our young people, and our society as a whole. Our young people simply cannot wait for the recovery in our economy to gradually produce the jobs and opportunities they need. We need to find a faster way.
· The Survey addresses this challenge, but the OECD has agreed to work further with us on this. Before Christmas they will work with us on a study of the key challenges facing Ireland with respect to youth unemployment and inactivity, and the key groups that are most at risk of long-term disadvantage. They will also work with us to produce an assessment of the areas in the delivery of Ireland’s employment and training services where particular efforts may be needed to increase capacity and effectiveness. Lastly, they will work on a review of possible programmes and measures that could be expanded or scaled up, drawing on the evidence of the effectiveness of these different measures both in Ireland and other relevant countries.
· Work on this project has begun, and is being led from Minister Burton’s Department of Social Protection. It will be another important input for the Government, and I look forward with some eagerness to the results.
· So I would now like to invite Dr. Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, to present the Economic Survey of Ireland.