Ibec calls for boosting local businesses and higher education

The pressure group of companies and employers Ibec issued a stern warning on the erosion of competitiveness of the Ireland and urged the government to stop the decline by providing increased support to local industries, as well as by injecting 250 million euros into higher education.

In his pre-budget submission 2019, Ibec warned that "Ireland's tax and industrial base was dangerously concentrated" and called on Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to introduce a more generous tax relief on capital gains for entrepreneurs as part of a series of measures.

Ibec reiterated his longstanding claim that the government is abandoning a "rain fund of funds" and lobbied for the cantoned money to be channeled rather into third-level education. sector with the aim of reversing the recent fall in world rankings of Irish universities.

Fergal O. Brien, director of political and public affairs pressure group, claimed that we had not managed to "balance" the economy as a result of

He acknowledged that the economy "is doing very well", but argued that rising costs "erode our competitiveness faster than ever in the last decade and a half"

. His concerns were echoed yesterday by another small business advocacy group, the Small Firms Association, which described labor costs as "the single largest factor in business costs in many industries" [19659014]. "The government refrained from raising the minimum wage in 2019.

According to Ibec, the focus should be on" the next phase of growth "and, as Mr. O & # 39; Brien stressed, on "if we can maintain the competitive position" "

To achieve this, he said, Ireland must be" right up there with respect to One of the best places to start, grow and ultimately sell a business ". the introduction of a rate of 12.5 pc without lifetime cap will cost 60 M €.

The current rate of 10pc is limited to € 1m in the life of any entrepreneur and compares unfavorably with the United Kingdom, where the lifetime limit is £ 10m [19659020] The pressure group also reiterated demands for workers on an average wage to be excluded from the higher tax rate and wants the marginal rate to be reduced to 47pc.

million. O & # 39; Brien said the organization is "pragmatic" about the "available resources", but pointed out that the relatively high tax regime hinders foreign investment and deters high-income workers from settling in Ireland.

Ibec also wants to focus on the government's tax system for employee stock options. like & # 39; KEEP & # 39; and presented in last year 's budget as a failure.

Gerard Brady, head of tax and tax policy for the lobby group, said the program has a low turnout because of its complexity and multiple restrictions.

But it is "big bang" investment in higher education, as Mr. O. Brien says, which is likely to generate immediate profit for the next year. State.

Ibec advocates an additional annual investment of 250 million euros in higher education "in the medium term" to cope with the growing skills shortage.

million. O & # 39; Brien said that the pipeline of "talent" provided by universities plays a key role in the foreign investment decisions of multinationals.

Trinity College Dublin lost its status as Ireland's only 100 university recently and Mr. O. Brien argued "money" offers the only solution "because so much is based on perception ".

"If we consider that we are serious in solving this problem with a plan with sufficient resources, then we will move up the rankings very quickly," he said.