Irish economic growth will be the fastest in the developed world

Good news for the Irish economy:

THE Irish economy will have the fastest growth rate in the developed world over the next 15 years, a major study from Deutsche Bank reveals.

Out of 34 countries survey by the bank, Ireland will surge pass every economy in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area and will have the sixth fastest-growing economy overall.

It predicts that gross domestic product will expand by at least 3.8% every year, faster than the rate in the US, Britain and other Eurozone bloc members.

However, because much of the economy depends on foreign investment, with many companies sending their profits out of the country, the average income per head will still lag behind the US. We will, though, have the second-highest income in the world at just under $50,000 each.

"The opening of the economy has been decisive: from being one of the most closed economies in the mid-1970s, Ireland had become one of the most open in the world by 2002 according to our measure thanks to low tax rates and EU aid programmes surpassed only by four countries from the centre of the EU.

"We expect the opening to continue at a similar pace in the coming years," the report said.

"The new investment opportunities in the healthcare sector will establish a broader basis for growth in Ireland. Together with the highest expected population growth of the OECD countries of 1%, this allows GDP growth overall of nearly 4% per annum remaining the highest of any OECD country."

A little something to make the unionists cringe.