Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2011

This publication by the National Competitiveness Council can be found here.

3 replies on “Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2011”

This indicator illustrates the growth in capital values between
1990 and 2009. Commercial property prices increased rapidly between 1993 and 1999. There was then a lull before prices exploded again from 2002, going
up by more than 60 percent to 2006. The fall in prices has been as dramatic, with all the gains from 1999 having been wiped out over the last three years.

Source: Society of Chartered Surveyors / IPD Irish Property Index, Central Bank of Ireland

Wow. I’m not used to such a candid admission of property price collapse from an Irish Institution, info sourced by the Society of Charted Surveyors no less. It appears that the country is finally beginning to admit to itself that the boom is gone and it’s not coming back.

The NCC recommends, therefore, that the feasibility of introducing legislation to facilitate downward rent adjustments for existing leaseholders be explored further.

Was there ever any doubt.

Role of NAMA

NAMA is likely to be the primary source of working capital for developers for a number of years given the condition of the banks.

“You hear the rumble of distant thunder.”

Ireland has the 2nd slowest download speed (30 Mb/s) and
slowest upload speed (3 Mb/s) amongst the countries benchmarked. The fastest package in Ireland costs €706 (excluding VAT) per annum. Significantly faster speeds are available for less than this in many of the countries benchmarked.

Another roaring success of the Eircom privatisation?

Accountancy costs fell from Q1 2008 and by Q4 2009, they were 6.8 percent below 2006 price levels; conversely, the cost of legal services has not responded significantly to the recession, and in Q2 2009, legal costs were 19.9 percent above the average 2006 price level.

Figures. All the legal eagles a) enjoy a healthy monopoly, and b) are all flat broke from failed property deals. To be fair, they’re in a bit more demand what with all the paperwork from NAMA and foreclosure litigation. Still, a 20% increases seems a little excessive. This is the industry by the way, which is supposed to be thrown open to competition under the IMF/EU agreement.

Staying on that topic

As a major consumer the Government has a certain amount of market power which it should utilise to ensure that the cost of legal services to the state is minimised … The impact of the State on the cost of legal services can be assumed to impact upon legal costs throughout the entire economy.

….
Further, the Committee has found that the State has been reluctant to challenge the legal profession in relation to cost “From the exorbitant figures charged and paid to members of the legal professions by the State Claims Agency, HSE, local authorities and public bodies, at the Tribunals and Commissions of Inquiry, during the bank stabilisation process and the provisions being made in NAMA for legal costs, it seems the legal profession is treated very much with a kid-glove approach on the part of the State”.

Pretty strong stuff (This report certainly does have a few choice quotes!). The fact that many Dail deputies are lawyers probably does not help this situation, particularly as they will return to their legal practices upon losing their seats. (Michael McDowell anyone?). Once again. I personally doubt that the government will tackle the legal profession in any serious way, despite the clear need to do so.

Some other observations:
Limerick City has the largest commercial rates in the country, despite being the weakest performer economically. Figures.

Residential property construction volume is now only 10% of what it was in 2005. All construction is down to about 30% of 2005 levels.

The Dublin office space Vacancy graph is quite the most curious graph I have yet seen in relation to the Irish boom. Also, the current vacancy rate is 25%.

Question for the informed: do Attorney Generals receive a pension when their term in office expires?

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