Murphy addresses Cork conference on Ireland’s economic recovery

Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection, Dara Murphy TD, this morning addressed a conference on Ireland’s economic recovery hosted in Cork by the European Commission, in association with the Cork Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking at the event, Minister Murphy said:
“Ireland’s strong economic recovery is reflected in European Commission forecasts that expect our economy to grow by 4.7% this year - the fastest rate in the European Union. The social recovery is starting to take root right across the country. Here in Cork there have been significant job announcements in recent weeks. Following on from the tax changes revealed in Budget 2015 last month, taxpayers will start to see a positive difference, albeit modest, in their pay-packets from January.

The EU and wider global context will be critical to a sustained recovery in Ireland. The Investment Plan announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker this week is therefore particularly welcome. The plan aims to mobile €315 billion in additional investment throughout the EU over the next three years. Ireland is already actively engaged in developing a pipeline of viable projects in this regard.

Having successfully exited the EU/IMF Programme almost a year ago, Ireland is now fully engaged in the EU process of economic policy coordination - the so-called “European Semester”. All Member States have a shared interest in a strong EU-wide economic performance. This is particularly true of the single currency area. Through the new framework we are, together with our EU counterparts, pursuing the objective of a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe by 2020.”