The next Government must deliver "a surging demand for public infrastructure and public services" with more investment in public sector jobs and subsidised child care, Danny McCoy has told Ibec's annual business conference. Private firms, he said, were creating 25 times as many jobs as the Government and this imbalance could not continue. The next Government, he said, must spend and invest wisely to rebuild "the capacity of a State that is getting smaller before our eyes". "Who here believes that the State can outcompete the private sector for scarce construction resources?" Mr McCoy noted that the public sector was not notably bigger than a decade ago, reflecting the years of austerity before and during the EU-IMF bailout year.

Source: Irish Independent February 12, 2020 12:11 UTC