The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) welcomes the publication of the Government’s formal response to the Competitiveness Challenge recommendations. This is the second year the Government has provided a formal response and the Council welcomes this ongoing positive engagement with Government.

 The Council’s vision is a society underpinned by a competitive and productive economy that delivers sustainable economic growth and benefits all of society, allowing for a continued improvement in living standards. This is especially important as the changes in ways of living and working that have been accelerated due to the pandemic become more embedded in Ireland other countries.   

 The Competitiveness Challenge2021 report identifies a range of recommendations that address both immediate competitiveness issues, and more medium-term challenges, aimed at enhancing Ireland’s competitiveness and productivity performance. In this year’s report, the Council provides 20 tangible, actionable policy recommendations to the Government that would lead to these competitiveness and productivity improvements.

 The Government has responded to all 20 of the recommendations that were set out in the Competitiveness Challenge, indicating the range of actions and reforms currently or soon to be in train in response to the recommendations.  The detailed response highlights the important role the Council plays in advocating for and promoting changes that will help improve Ireland’s competitiveness and productivity. The Council looks forward to its continued constructive engagement with Government as it moves forward on the actions and reforms outlined in its response to this and previous year’sCompetitiveness Challenges.

The Government’s response to the Competitiveness Challenge 2021 recommendations can be found here.