2015 OECD Economic Survey of Ireland more inclusive and productive Dublin 15 September

1. www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-ireland.htm
OECD
OECD Economics
2015 OECD ECONOMIC
SURVEY OF IRELAND
More inclusive and productive
15 September 2015

2. How is life in Ireland?
Generally good.
2Source: OECD Better Life Index 2015
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Income and wealth
Jobs and earnings
Housing
Work and life balance
Health status
Education and skillsSocial connections
Civic engagement and
governance
Environmental quality
Personal security
Subjective well-being
Ireland OECD

3. Household income inequality is
below the OECD average
3
Source: OECD Income Distribution Database
Ireland’s
comprehensive
welfare system
protected
vulnerable groups
during the crisis
and underpinned
the social
cohesion needed
to make reforms
possible
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
DNK
CZE
FIN
SVN
ISL
SVK
BEL
NOR
SWE
DEU
CHE
NLD
AUT
LUX
HUN
POL
FRA
IRL
NZL
CAN
AUS
OECD
EST
PRT
GBR
KOR
JPN
ITA
ESP
GRC
ISR
TUR
USA
MEX
ratioratio
Ratio of incomes of the top 10% vs. bottom 10%, 2012
Note: Incomes after tax and transfers

4. Impressive reforms in recent years
4
Source: OECD and Irish Statute Book
Reform Main Legislation Enacted
New or empowered
regulator
Remaining steps to be taken
Fiscal December 2012 Yes …
Financial and Banking Oct 2010 and August 2013 Yes …
Personal Insolvency December 2013 Yes …
Competition July 2014 Yes …
Corporate Governance December 2014 No
Water March 2013 Yes
Complete the roll-out of household
water meters
Labour Market Activation
No legislation. Pathways to Work
Reforms start February 2012
Yes
Full roll-out of contracting out of job-
search services
Further Education and
Training
October 2013 Yes
Design and implement new
apprenticeships and vocational training.
Government Accountability
& Transparency
July 2013, July and October 2014 Yes
Health (Pharmaceuticals
pricing)
May 2013 Yes

5. Strong real GDP growth has returned
5
Source: OECD Economic Outlook 97 Database, projections revised as of 10 September
2015.
Y-o-Y % growth Billion EUR
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
GDP growth (lhs) Real GDP (rhs)
GDP Growth
2014 5.2%
2015 5%
2016 4%

6. 130 thousand new jobs since early-2012
have reduced unemployment
6
Source: Central Statistics Office
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
%%
Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate
Monthly
unemployment
rate 9.5%,
August 2015

7. The budget deficit is falling
7
Source: OECD, National Accounts and OECD Economic Outlook 97 Database,
projections revised as of 10 September 2015
Bank
recapitalisation
General government deficit
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
% of GDP% of GDP

8. Public debt should be reduced
8Source: Economic Outlook Database No. 97; OECD Calculations
Note: All scenarios use the projections in the Economic Outlook Database No. 97 for the years 2015 and 2016, revised as of 10 September
2015.
General government gross debt, debt simulation analysis
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2038
GDP growth 1.8%; balanced budget
GDP growth 1.8%, fiscal balance -2.8% of GDP
GDP growth 0%, balanced budget
% of GDP % of GDP

9. Household debts make Ireland more
vulnerable to international shocks
9Source: OECD, Financial Indicators Database.
Household debt, 2013 or latest available
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
% of disposable income % of disposable income

10. Non-performing loans are still high
10Source: IMF Financial Soundness Indicators and Central Bank of Ireland
The legal system is
slow to resolve
non-performing
loans
Note: The definition of non-performing loans is not entirely standardised across
countries. Many, including Ireland, are loans overdue for more than 90 days.
Non-performing loans, 2014Q4 or latest available
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
CAN
SWE
KOR
AUS
NOR
JPN
USA
GBR
TUR
MEX
NLD
AUT
BEL
DNK
FRA
POL
SVK
CZE
ESP
PRT
SVN
HUN
ITA
IRL
GRC
% of total loans % of total loans

11. Property prices are rising again
11Source: OECD, Economic Outlook Database
Take further supervisory measures as needed
Real housing prices
75
100
125
150
175
200
75
100
125
150
175
200
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Index 2000=100Index 2000=100
Denmark Netherlands
United Kingdom Ireland

12. Making growth more
inclusive

13. The tax and transfer system reduces inequality
by more than any other country in the OECD
13
Note: 2012, for Canada 2011, GINI coefficient before and after taxes and transfers
Source: OECD Income Distribution Database
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
DNK
SVK
SVN
NOR
CZE
ISL
FIN
BEL
SWE
AUT
NLD
CHE
HUN
DEU
POL
LUX
IRL
FRA
KOR
OECD
CAN
AUS
ITA
NZL
ESP
EST
PRT
GRC
GBR
ISR
USA
TUR
MEX
Gini before taxes and transfers Gini after taxes and transfers

14. Ireland’s relative poverty rate remains low
14
Source: OECD Income Distribution database.
Poverty rate after tax and transfers, 2012
Note: Percentage of the population with income below 60% of the median, latest
comparable information
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
CZE
ISL
DNK
SVK
FIN
NLD
NOR
DEU
FRA
AUT
IRL
SVN
CHE
LUX
HUN
POL
SWE
GBR
OECD
BEL
CAN
ITA
NZL
PRT
KOR
EST
AUS
ESP
GRC
JPN
USA
CHL
ISR
MEX
TUR
% of total population% of total population

15. The gender wage gap is low
15Source: OECD Employment and Labour Market Statistics
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
NZL
BEL
LUX
GRC
NOR
DNK
ESP
HUN
POL
ITA
SVN
IRL
FRA
ISL
SVK
SWE
MEX
OECD
CZE
CHL
PRT
DEU
GBR
USA
AUS
AUT
CHE
FIN
CAN
TUR
NLD
ISR
JPN
EST
% of male median wage% of male median wage
Note: 2013 or latest available. The gender wage gap is unadjusted and is defined as the difference between
median earnings of men and women relative to median earnings of men. Data refer to full-time employees.

16. 60% of jobseekers have been unemployed more than
12 months, with the risk of scarring effects
16Source: OECD calculations based on quarterly national labour force surveys
Note: Countries are shown in ascending order of the share of long-term unemployment in total
unemployment in Q4 2014.
a) Data are not seasonally adjusted but smoothed using three-quarter moving averages. OECD
is the weighted average of 33 OECD countries excluding Chile.
b) 2013 for Israel.
%
Long term unemployment, % of total unemployed
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
KOR
MEX
NZL
ISR
ISL
CAN
TUR
SWE
AUS
USA
DNK
FIN
LUX
AUT
NOR
GBR
OECD
CHE
JPN
POL
FRA
NLD
EST
DEU
HUN
CZE
BEL
ESP
SVN
IRL
PRT
ITA
SVK
GRC
% %

17. Many low income families with children face
strong disincentives to work
17
Source: OECD Taxing Wages (database).
Marginal effective tax rate
67% of the average wage, single, two children, percent (2014)
Reduce housing and welfare assistance payments more gradually
as in-work income increases, so as not to discourage work
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
CHL
KOR
MEX
ISR
CHE
POL
JPN
SVN
DNK
NZL
EST
NOR
TUR
OECD
SWE
SVK
CZE
GRC
HUN
LUX
USA
NLD
PRT
ISL
ESP
DEU
FIN
ITA
AUT
FRA
AUS
CAN
BEL
IRL
GBR
% %

18. Childcare is expensive
18Source: OECD, Tax-Benefit Models; www.oecd.org/els/social/workincentives.
Improve access and affordability of quality childcare, particularly for
low income families
1. EU and OECD averages exclude Chile, Italy, Mexico and Turkey.
Lone parent, net cost, as percentage of average wage, 2012
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
KOR
DNK
LUX
PRT
SWE
BEL
DEU
FRA
AUT
GRC
ISL
HUN
GBR
CHE
POL
EST
ESP
NOR
NLD
EU¹
OECD¹
AUS
SVN
FIN
JPN
NZL
ISR
CZE
CAN
SVK
USA
IRL
% of average wage % of average wage

19. Getting the most out of migration

20. Migration is turning around
20
Source: CSO up to 2014. Projections for 2015 and 2016, based on equations
described in the OECD Economic Survey of Ireland 2015 and unemployment rates
as projected in OECD Economic Outlook.
• Promote greater participation from
immigrants in employer provided
training
• Provide English language support to
students with foreign language
backgrounds
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Immigrants minus emigrants
Thousand persons Thousand persons

21. “Brains exchange”
More than half of migrants are tertiary qualified
21
Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO)
Encourage and facilitate SMEs using trust-based work
permit schemes so they can access foreign talent
Education attainment, 2014
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Emigrants Immigrants
Thousand personsThousand persons
Tertiary Secondary

22. Raising productivity

23. Productivity growth has slowed
23
Source: OECD Economic Outlook database.
• Intensify competition in legal, port and electricity
services
• Expand the National Competitiveness Council into a
Productivity Commission
Total factor productivity growth
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
%
Ireland United-Kingdom Netherlands United-States
%

24. Government support for R&D is modest
24
Source: OECD (2014),OECD Science, Technology and R&D Statistics (database),
July and OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013.
• Steadily expand research student placements in firms
• Ensure Enterprise Ireland’s Technology centres are demand
driven
• Focus Technology centres on improving product quality and
production processes
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
CHL
MEX
HUN
POL
GRC
SVK
AUS
IRL
NZL
ISR
SVN
CAN
ITA
GBR
ESP
LUX
BEL
OECD
CZE
FRA
NLD
JPN
NOR
AUT
CHE
EST
SWE
USA
DEU
PRT
DNK
ISL
KOR
FIN
% of GDP% of GDP

25. Government innovation support to business is
skewed towards R&D Tax credits
25
Source: OECD (2014),OECD Science, Technology and R&D Statistics (database),
July and OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013.
Rebalance innovation supports towards direct grants
Government support for business innovation
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
MEX
CHL
POL
CHE
SVK
LUX
ITA
TUR
NZL
FIN
DEU
JPN
DNK
EST
PRT
SWE
AUS
NOR
OECD
ESP
GBR
NLD
IRL
HUN
CZE
AUT
CAN
BEL
USA
SVN
FRA
KOR
R&D grants R&D tax incentives
% of GDP% of GDP

26. More Information…
www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-ireland.htm
OECD
OECD Economics
Disclaimers:
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without
prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers
and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
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