John Power, Director General, Engineers Ireland, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Liam Connellan of the Irish Academy of Engineering pictured at the Launch of the new Academy Report on 24 February 2010
This report has been prepared by a Taskforce organised bythe Irish Academy of Engineering and Engineers Irelandrepresenting the engineering profession on the island ofIreland. It has been commissioned by InterTradeIreland.
The purpose of the report is to identify and makerecommendations on the long-term infrastructure whichwill be required in order to achieve world-classcompetitiveness for the island. Adopting a long-termperspective ensures that economic choices are made andavoids the risk of revisiting incremental decisions based onshort-term pressures.
The world economy is going through a period ofunprecedented change and adaptation. The rapid growthin the economic power of China and India, the threatsposed by climate change and to energy supplies, the globalbanking crisis and the enlargement of the European Unionall present new challenges.
Estimates of the population of the island which were preparedby the Official Statistics Agencies, North and South, beforethe onset of the current recession indicated that, based oncertain assumptions (used by the CSO), the population of theisland could reach eight million by around 2030.
The recession seems likely to postpone the achievement ofthe eight million estimate by a number of years. It is stillimportant, nonetheless, to identify and put in place in anintegrated manner the infrastructure required for aneconomy with an increased population of eight milliongiven the long-term nature of this activity.
In economic terms, the gross national income per capita ofthe island economy ranks in the top 13 in the world. Aneconomic growth rate from 2012 in excess of 3% perannum will be necessary to sustain the population increaseassumed as the basis for this report.
The pressures of the global economy emphasise theimportance of achieving substantial improvement in theinfrastructure of the island, which will support anenhancement in economic competitiveness and quality oflife for this population.
Related Documents
Critical Infrastructure – Infrastructure for an island population of 8 million – February 2010
This report has been prepared by a Taskforce organised bythe Irish Academy of Engineering and Engineers Irelandrepresenting the engineering profession on the island ofIreland. It has been commissioned by InterTradeIreland.The purpose of the report is to identify and makerecommendations on the long-term infrastructure whichwill be required in order to achieve world-classcompetitiveness for the island. Adopting a long-termperspective ensures that economic choices are made andavoids the risk of revisiting incremental decisions based onshort-term pressures.
Critical Infrastructure – Infrastructure for an island population of 8 million – Summary Report – February 2010
This report has been prepared by a Taskforce organised bythe Irish Academy of Engineering and Engineers Irelandrepresenting the engineering profession on the island ofIreland. It has been commissioned by InterTradeIreland.The purpose of the report is to identify and makerecommendations on the long-term infrastructure whichwill be required in order to achieve world-classcompetitiveness for the island. Adopting a long-termperspective ensures that economic choices are made andavoids the risk of revisiting incremental decisions based onshort-term pressures.