The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) today (20 July 2017) published its annual benchmarking report, Ireland's Competitiveness Scorecard. The 2017 Scorecard provides a statistical assessment of Ireland's competitiveness performance relative to a range of countries with which we compete for trade and investment.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Professor Peter Clinch, Chair of the Council commented " While Ireland's overall economic performance is strong, the economy faces significant downside threats. We are at a critical juncture in terms of ensuring the foundations for future competitiveness are in place. We face major competitiveness challenges in developing the resilience of the enterprise base, particularly in light of Brexit, and ensuring the environment in which to do business is competitive. Cost competitiveness, boosting productivity and innovation, skills availability, and developing our infrastructure capacity are key issues we must address. Only a renewed focus on competitiveness will enable us to achieve sustainable improvements in living standards and help us withstand external shocks and factors beyond our control."

The Scorecard Report is available here

An accompanying Press Release is available here