Speaking at the MacGill Summer School on the topic of Ireland’s Business Model 2.0, Danny McCoy, Chief Executive Officer of Ibec, addressed the importance of European defence, the need to protect and strengthen Ireland’s competitiveness in a time of global uncertainty, and the new opportunities emerging for the country. 

McCoy said defence and security are increasingly urgent concerns for the Irish business community and insisted that it is essential for Ireland to follow through on commitments to properly resource our physical and cyber security. 

“The Government has committed to progressing towards Level of Ambition Two in defence planning by 2028. It is vital that we deliver on this pledge. 

“Recent developments have made security and resilience central priorities across the European Union.

“Ireland must contribute its fair share in safeguarding the Union. Other countries are investing significantly in infrastructure resilience, often spending several times more than Ireland does. 

“In Ireland, areas such as data infrastructure, offshore wind, our energy networks, water and cybersecurity are all critical areas in need of further resilience."

McCoy also revealed his concern that Ireland may not yet have the societal maturity to take full advantage of the opportunities created by the shifting global economy, “especially the increased focus across Europe on security and resilience.” 

On the importance of protecting Ireland’s corporate tax base, he said: “Since 2019, Ireland has collected €113bn in corporate tax revenues, significantly more than other investment-focused economies.

“If we had matched the level of corporate tax per worker seen in similar countries, we would have collected around €45bn less. 

“To put it differently, if Ireland had collected only the same amount of corporate tax per worker as other open and globally integrated economies, every worker in the country would need to contribute an additional €4,000 per year through income or other taxes. 

“If we do not use these revenues to invest in future competitiveness, productivity, security, and resilience, the long-term financial burden may ultimately fall on households.” 

Finally, discussing Ireland’s future opportunities, the Ibec CEO said that in political and policy discussions, Ireland sometimes becomes too focused on the next crisis, whereas the business community is seeking out the next opportunity.

“The rise of artificial intelligence offers the potential for a new general purpose technology that can drive rapid productivity gains across all sectors and regions. 

“As global supply chains continue to evolve, Ireland is well placed to position itself as a central and dependable location for production serving international markets,” according to McCoy. 

“For Europe, global change may finally prompt the European project to invest boldly, integrate capital markets to put European savings to better use, and complete the Single Market for goods and services by removing remaining barriers.

“This could unlock vast economic potential.” 

The Magill Summer School discussion was hosted by Sarah Carey, with a panel made up of McCoy, Prof. Martina Lawless, Director ESRI, Seamus Coffey, Chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council & Lecturer at Department of Economics at University College Cork and Sean Finlay, President Irish Academy of Engineering.