 We're delighted to be joined by Gers Daharty TD, Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance who will provide an address on the topic of Ireland and the global economy, a Sinn Féin perspective. At this point, I expect to see Deputy Daharty's face appearing on the screen, but we'll just see how that's gonna happen quickly. It's a very timely address as the debate surrounding the future of the European Union's fiscal rules and the implementation of the COVID-19 recovery fund continues. And with important international developments in the corporate taxation area and also in terms of the trade developments which will have an impact on Ireland. Deputy Daharty has agreed to discuss Sinn Féin's perspective on the EU's economic policy priorities in the years ahead and also outline Sinn Féin's policy approach towards Ireland's place in the global economy. So he's going to speak to us for about 20 minutes or so and then we'll go to Q&A with the audience just to say to members of the audience that you will be able to join the discussion using the Q&A function on Zoom all going well, which you should be seeing on your screens. Please feel free to send in your questions in throughout the session as they occur to you and we will then come to them once Deputy Daharty has finished his presentation. You should identify yourselves and sending in your questions and you can also participate in the discussion on Twitter using the handle at IIEA. So before we go into formalities just a reminder to all of you that today's presentation and the Q&A are both on the record. Let me now formally introduce Deputy Daharty and hand over to him. Pierce Daharty, as you all know, is the finance spokesperson and deputy leader in the oil area for Sinn Féin, serving as a TD since 2010, currently for the constituency of Donegal and formerly for Donegal Southwest. He's currently a member of the odd core of the party and a member of the committee on finance, public expenditure, reform and fee shock. So Deputy Daharty, over to you, hoping that you're now going to appear and that we've got all our issues under control. Well, thank you and good afternoon and thank you for that introduction, Dr. Ruan. I hope everything is going okay on my end and thank you, Barry, for the words. We've found it difficult to hear some of them but we got the spirit of it. I wish to begin by thanking you and thanking the IIEA for the invitation to be here with you today to discuss Ireland and the global economy and to outline some of the priorities of Sinn Féin as we navigate a way forward. The pandemic resulted in the most dramatic shutdown of economic activity and living memory. Global output contracted with the volume of world trade falling by 8%. Domestic demand fell by 5% and the rate of unemployment reached 19%. And now governments in the advanced economies acted swiftly, they acted to support businesses and to save jobs through the rollout of wage subsidy schemes, retaining the link between the employer and the employee. In this respect, the wage subsidies schemes in Ireland, north and south were a success, mitigating the worst impacts of the pandemic on jobs and incomes. Sinn Féin supported these measures. We recognize the scale of the challenge we faced and working with government to improve these measures to meet their objectives. As we emerge from the pandemic, a global recovery is now underway but it's an uneven recovery. A lack of access to vaccines and policy support for developing countries and emerging economies have deepened inequalities that existed before the pandemic and the global economy won't recover fully unless all countries advanced developing are empowered to ensure the security and prosperity of their own citizens. Globalization has for too long been a rich system and it is time to rewrite the rules so that all can prosper. Turning the attention closer to home, we have witnessed a post-pandemic bounce but we cannot be complacent. We in Sinn Féin have a different analysis of our economy than others, how it works and who it works for. At the outset, I think perspective is important. We recognize that the domestic economy has been transformed in the past century as has every advanced economy. But for too many of our people, the headline figures they hear on the airwaves or they watch on the TV or read in their newspapers, those figures fail to reflect their lived reality. So many metrics can obscure more than what they can reveal, such as GDP, which provides a picture of Irish living standards that is so misleading as to be almost meaningless. The former governor of the central bank, Patrick Honaghan, reflected on this in an economic letter published by the central bank last year entitled, is Ireland really the most prosperous country in Europe? The answer is clear, no. Noting the serious shortcomings of Irish GDP as a measure of economic welfare, the former governor used a more accurate measure of household welfare known as actual individual consumption, which adds together household consumption with government spending on services such as health, education and on housing. And the picture that that paints is a very different one, but one which rings true for so many Irish households. Based on this measure, Irish household welfare is below EU average and 14 in Europe. Our living standards are more like Spain and Italy than Norway or Germany. And we know some of the reasons for this. A housing crisis that is draining disposable income and widening wealth inequality, the scourge of low pay, unaffordable childcare that denies many women the freedom to participate fully in the labor market. And Sinn Fein's aim is to address these challenges, to ensure a broad base rise in living standards, building a more active and responsive state, equipping Ireland to seize the opportunities of the exponential age, strengthening the hand of workers in pursuit of better pay and conditions. And in pursuit of that agenda, we recognize that the environment in which we operate in is changing both at a European level and indeed at a global level. It is to these now that I will turn. From the coronavirus pandemic and public health restrictions implemented to contain it's spread led to an extraordinary and unprecedented slowdown in economic activity. It required emergency economic measures to save lives and to save livelihoods. In Europe, this required the activation of the general escape clause of the stability in growth pack and the adoption of state aid temporary framework. Without this action, the economic damage wrought by the pandemic would have been devastating. The period, this period underlined the fundamental weakness of the fiscal rules laid down in the stability in growth pack. The need for fiscal rules was justified on the grounds that unsustainable debt in one member state would negatively impact others through the sped of fiscal crisis or the dominance of monetary policy or the risk of inflation. As a consequence of that, simple rules were deemed necessary including restricting public debt to 60% of GDP and deficits to 3% of GDP. However, it's become clear that these rules were unfit for purpose leading to their repeated violation. Their design required member states to consolidate during periods of recession, harming recovery and deepening unemployment. Changes to the rules followed increasing their complexity without tackling the underlying problems. They restricted the public investment necessary for economies and societies to recover from the financial crisis. And the pandemic has again made clear the need for change. The fiscal support necessary to respond to the pandemic led to higher deficits and levels of debt such as the current targets are simply such that the current targets are no longer credible. At the end of 2020, the average EU government debt to GDP ratio stood at 90% and the Euro area was even higher again standing at 97%. And debt ratios stood above 60% of GDP and 13 member states with the highest recorded increase at 206% in Italy at 156% and in Portugal at 135%. Now, under the current rules, these member states would be required to close the gap between their current debt to GDP ratio of 60% at a pace of 120th per year. That level of consolidation required to reach these targets would be damaging and quite frankly, it wouldn't happen. Rules that are incredible can't be enforced. Rules that are economically damaging shouldn't be enforced. So where does that leave us? Shouldn't they have long argued that the fiscal rules are not fit for purpose, that they're overly complex, that they undermine the principles of sovereignty and are economically damaging. Faced with recurring problems in healthcare provision and social inequality and housing need and infrastructure deficits and the threat of a climate breakdown, the current framework must be abandoned and replaced with a system that respects the democratic mandate of national governments and supports progressive policies. Many have argued for a move away from fiscal rules and instead replacing them with fiscal standards. Precedents exist for such an approach, vast areas of European law, such as competition are based on standards rather than rules. Others have argued that a better measure of debt sustainability is the cost of borrowing or servicing public debt rather than the blunt assessment of the stock of public debt and such a move away from rules and towards standards could encourage rather than penalize investment. But any golden rule that encourages investment can't be restricted to environmental policies alone but must also include investment that further social development and reduces inequalities such as housing and childcare. As well as changes in fiscal policy, we have seen change in the international tax landscape following the agreement reached in October under the OECD inclusive framework. The old framework for international tax was based on the principle that a company's profits should only be taxed where the company had a physical presence. Although in tuition, the principle had in place that it was basically in place that it had in mind the old industrial age. In the post-industrial age of accelerating globalization and digitalization, multinationals carrying out significant business activity in market jurisdictions into which they have no physical presence or footprint. Similarly, although many, and some may argue that globalization has produced winners, it has undoubtedly produced losers also. Global inequalities deepened by corporate tax avoidance and a non-sustainable race to the bottom underlined the need for a new consensus on how multinationals are taxed to ensure that they pay their fair share. The two pillar package of measures included in the inclusive framework seeks to address these challenges and would bring the most significant changes to the international tax system for more than a century. Sinn Féin supports its policy objectives, recognizing the need to fundamentally reform the international tax landscape to reflect the new realities of the global economy. Under pillar one, the outdated principle of taxing a company based solely on its location of its head office will be replaced by taxing a company based also on the location of its users and customers. It is estimated that allocating the residual profits of the multinationals operating in the state under pillar one will reduce corporation tax revenue by two billion in the year 2025. Notwithstanding this, it should be noted that corporation tax revenue is still projected to increase out to 2025. Under pillar two, a floor on taxation competition would be established through the global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% for multinationals with revenues exceeding 750 million euros. Pillar two aims to end the race to the bottom in tax competition, recognizing that the race creates losers, more losers than winners, distorting competition and undermining the tax base of countries and their ability to meet the needs of their citizens. As I said, during and after the negotiations, remaining outside the agreement would have damaged Ireland's reputation and would have damaged our economy. In our engagements with the Department of Finance, we saw clarity that it would be possible to operate dual rates of corporation tax buyers companies that fell on different sides of the pillar two threshold, ensuring incentives for innovation such as research and development tax credits could remain. There has been much focus on pillar two and the 12.5% rate, but it is now clear that there are greater risks to our competitiveness and future prospects than a 2.5 percentage point change in the headline rate for larger multinationals. While FDI has been a key pillar to the state's industrial strategy for decades now, we have witnessed the continued failure of government to adequately address or invest in other factors that are just as crucial, such as the provision of childcare and affordable housing, higher education and research. It is to these fundamentals that I now turn. There are a number of risks that must be addressed to improve the competitiveness and productivity of the Irish economy. Government in action over the past decade has magnified these risks and every business face fixed costs in order to operate. Some of these fixed costs such as insurance and the availability of cost of credit limit the ability of Irish firms to compete. The latest linked finance SME confidence index found that nearly two thirds of Irish SMEs are finding it difficult to access credit. With the withdrawal of two banks from the market, these difficulties could be intensified. Addressing this must be a central item for the retail bank review. Problems also persist in the insurance market with prices remaining high and availability scarce in many sectors. Reducing underwriting costs as a result of the personal injuries guideline haven't been passed on fully to business customers while long promise reforms on the duty of care are yet to be delivered. These problems must and can be tackled. The provision of affordable housing is an essential infrastructure for any economy and for any society. It is a key plank of competitiveness with a direct impact on the ability of firms to attract and to retain staff. The chronic shortage of affordable homes to rent and to buy is eroding incomes. It's reducing living standards and poses a direct threat to our economic security and to our future. It is a direct result of government policy, a refusal to invest in affordable supply over the past decade and a reliance of policies that have utterly failed. The numbers attest to this fact. House prices have increased by over 14% in the past year as they now approach their Celtic tiger peak with the average house price in Dublin now standing at over half a million euros. Rents have increased by more than 10% in the past year with the average rent now standing at more than 15, 100 euro per month across the state and a 2,000 euro in Dublin. Sinn Fein would pursue a radical departure from the housing policy of successive governments doubling capital investment in housing as argued for in a paper by the ESRI. And we would implement specific interventions in the market and reforms in planning to deliver genuinely affordable homes to rent and to buy. Likewise, the cost of childcare is another crucial factor in workers deciding where they live and where they work. What matters is not just the wages a firm offers but the quality of life families can enjoy. Childcare in Ireland is one of the most expensive in the OECD and it undermines the competitiveness of our economy. This is understood as a key factor in reducing female participation in labor market with our female employment rate lower than the European average. Everyone should have the freedom to join or to remain in the labor market. For Sinn Fein, transferring childcare is a priority significantly increasing state involvement in the sector to reduce the cost of childcare by two thirds over the term of a government. Innovation is the engine of economic development. Improving living standards depends on the ability to drive up the level of value added output per capita in turn providing the basis for higher wages and levels of employment. Firms and governments need to identify what have been described as windows of opportunities the sources of competitive advantage and then having policies and technologies capabilities to take seas of them. We in Sinn Fein want to see the state and industry collaborate on the agenda that places innovation high productivity and high wages at its heart with increased living standards broad based access across our society. Research and innovation are crucial to drive up levels of value added output per capita driving productivity and wage growth. For some time, government expenditure and research and development has falling below the European average. Expenditure across both state and private funds has followed a similar trend. Moving forward, we must change the standard. The government and private expenditure on research development innovation steadily increasing. We must also ensure that gains in productivity are broad based. Recent figures show that the scale of disparity in gross value added per person across regions a gap that has continued to widen. And this gap is then reflected in wages and disposable income and living standards between region sectors and firm types indigenous and foreigner. A new industrial strategy must be regional as well as national harnessing and strengthening the capacity of our higher and further education colleges throughout the country north and south. We have entered a new era of accelerating technologies. In four key domains, computing, energy, biology and manufacturing, Ireland is in the position to advance, provide we seize the opportunity. As a new wave of general purpose technologies to emerge we must also grapple with the question of work. For too long workers have been getting a bad deal getting too small a share in the economy they have built. Ireland is among the highest levels of low pay in Europe with one in five workers on low pay. Ireland displays one of the highest levels of market income inequality in Europe. Now many note that our tax and welfare system is among the most progressive but that is because it has to be in order to close that gap. The new technologies that I discussed before risk widening that gap even further. And this can be seen in the gig economy with platform technologies redefining the relationship between workers and companies and our laws need to catch up. Shouldn't fame for our part, we are a party of the left. We want to see increased workers power and build an economy that works for them. We can think of this in terms of four principles. Dignity, flexibility, security and equity. Dignity, to make a dignified workplace possible and ensuring workers have more autonomy over their work and more insight into the data firms hold about them and how that data is used. In flexibility, as new industries emerge and grow workers need to be given a chance to reskill through lifelong learning and access to affordable education. In security we have seen in the past two years a strong safety net is crucial at times of rapid change and shouldn't fame is determined to strengthen the social insurance system. And in equity we see wage bargaining and collective action are more important than ever. Shouldn't fame are fully committed to legislating for the right to trade union recognition and the right for unions to bargain for and represent their members. This would be a radical change in our economy increasing worker power to ensure that rising living standards and wage growth are broad based and shift the balance from capital to labor. There is so much that can be said with regard to Ireland's place in the global economy and shouldn't fame's perspective on it. There are many areas that could have been mentioned but time hasn't allowed for the move towards a green economy and the opportunities which that transition offers. Putting the rights of citizens with disability at the center of our economy when for far too long they have been marginalized on the fringes with unacceptable consequences. And the prospect of national reunification in which we all have a stake to ensure a smooth and successful transition to a new equal prosperous and united Ireland. As a Republican, I am hopeful for the future. There are many challenges we face but many opportunities too. Provided the right decisions are made some of which will be difficult. I am confident that our best days are yet to come as a nation for Michael.