A US businessman's verdict on Ireland

 

"Ireland's domestic service economy remains uncompetitive and its public sector inefficient. That means relatively high costs for energy, transportation and business services, and higher living costs for workers who are now in a good position to demand higher wages.

This is a common problem in Europe. In Ireland, much of the blame lies with public-sector unions that have successfully won the right to have their salaries "benchmarked" to the private sector, without a similar benchmarking for productivity, job security, vacations or fringe benefits. But rather than get into a Thatcherite or Reaganese confrontation, Ireland's helplessly reasonable and polite politicians and union leaders have agreed to a strategy of quiet, piecemeal reforms in which flexibility is traded for higher pay."

via washingtonpost.com