This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.The economic situation and policies of Ireland were reviewed by the Committee on 16 January 2020.  The draft report was then revised in light of the discussions and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 3 February 2020.The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Ben Westmore and Haruki Seitani, with contributions from Ronan Lyons, Olena Havrylchyk and Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter, under the supervision of Vincent Koen. Research assistance was provided by Lutécia Daniel and editorial support by Sisse Nielsen and Michelle Ortiz. The previous Survey of Ireland was issued in March 2018.Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more details about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

The Irish economy has been growing strongly. The unemployment rate has plummeted by over 10 percentage points since 2012 to around 5% () and the average real wage well exceeds the OECD average. Moreover, the highly redistributive tax and transfer system has contained income inequality. Air pollution is low and dimensions of wellbeing such as perceived personal safety and community engagement are high.

Ireland’s living standards remain high (, Panel A). Growth has been strong, despite bouts of volatility. The average real wage was on par with the OECD average in the mid-1990s, but now stands more than 15% above. Furthermore, a highly redistributive tax and transfer system has contained income inequality in disposable incomes (, Panel B).

Technological change is transforming Ireland’s economic structures, leading to new jobs and innovative products that benefit consumers. Adoption of new technologies by businesses has been high relative to many other OECD economies, but it has been uneven across industries and the impact on productivity growth in most firms has been modest so far. Policymakers must encourage further diffusion of new technologies through reforms that promote business dynamism, at the same time as supporting the accumulation of skills that help the productivity potential of such technologies be realised. Some workers who are displaced by technological change must be assisted in transitioning to new, higher productivity jobs through well-designed activation and training programmes. New jobs in the gig economy and changes in the geographic location of economic activity should also be accommodated, thereby adding to the flexibility of the Irish economy. Nevertheless, as technological progress causes business models and market structures to mutate, competition policies and data security measures will need to be revisited.