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Taoiseach Enda Kenny today attended the Bloomberg Ireland Economic Summit in Dublin. In his address to the Summit, the Taoiseach said...

Today’s conference is timely.

Important questions and issues are currently being debated, here at home and internationally, about Ireland’s pathway towards recovery and in particular of course in the context of developments in the Eurozone.

Right across Europe, there are ongoing debates about what strategies are appropriate to deal with the economic and social challenges facing many economies across the EU and beyond.

The Taoiseach spoke of Ireland's economic growth:

Due to the determination and fortitude of the Irish people we have made significant progress in returning our economy to growth, in reforming our banking system and in repairing our international reputation.

For example:

• We’re expecting a second year of economic growth, driven by exports. The EU Commission expects Irish growth to accelerate to 2% next year, despite weak European performance;
• Our current account of balance of payments is now positive – Ireland is paying down its debts;
• Employment actually grew by 10,000 in during the last quarter in 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the first quarterly growth since 2007;
• Our underlying deficit fell rapidly last year to 9.4% of GDP as against a 10.6% target under the Programme;
• And Commission forecasts recently published suggest that the deficit will come in well below 8.6% of GDP target for this year.

The Taoiseach highlighted Ireland's success in attracting Foreign Direct Investment:

Ireland also continues to perform very strongly in attracting Foreign Direct Investment.

Multinationals based here in Ireland employ at least 250,000 people across a range of sectors. Many of the world’s leading corporations continue to choose Ireland as a business location including;

• 8 of the Top 10 Global ICT corporations;
• 9 of the Top 10 Global Pharmaceuticals corporations;
• 17 of the Top 25 Global Medical Device corporations;
• More than 50% of the world’s leading Financial Services firms;
• 10 top “Born on the Internet” companies;
• 3 of the Top 5 Games companies.

In 2011, IDA-supported companies contributed over €115bn worth of exports to the economy. Clearly, multinational companies will continue to play a huge role in influencing Ireland’s growth prospects.

The Taoiseach concluded:

These are undoubtedly turbulent times for Ireland’s economy and for the Eurozone.

However, there is a saying ‘Kites rise against, not with, the wind.”

And I believe it is clear that recent challenges have shown the true strengths of Ireland and its people – creativity, resilience and hard-work.

It is these qualities that are helping to bring Ireland back on the path of recovery.