The Irish economy is still performing robustly, despite rising inflation and higher interest rates. This can be best seen in the fact that the economy added 90,000 jobs in the past twelve months. The global economy is entering a period of major change, however. The coming years will see more State subsidised competition for investment in new technology, falling levels of trade openness and rising geopolitical risk in global supply chains, energy and commodity markets. Each of these means that there will be a more uncertain and volatile business environment facing Irish companies selling abroad.

This in turn will increase focus on managing volatility, reducing vulnerability to inflationary swings and addressing overall competitiveness concerns. The Irish export model has been the driving force behind our economic success for several decades. It has thrived in a global economy defined by a multilateral global order, a focus on opening markets and greater trade integration. For domestic policy these changes in the global economy will reduce the margin for error when it comes to improving our domestic cost competitiveness, skills, infrastructure and capacity to innovate.