The success of Voxpro shows there is more to Cork than multinationals – Clune Ireland South MEP Candidate Deirdre Clune has said that the success of Voxpro shows that we must continue to nurture the domestic Cork economy, “I was extremely proud of the achievements of Voxpro in Cork last Friday. They are an example of a local Cork company, run by local Cork people, that is growing and creating sustainable jobs. Yes, we must encourage foreign direct investment and multinationals but we must not lose sight of the small and medium size Cork businesses that can grow and create local sustainable Cork jobs. “Linda and Dan in Voxpro creating 350 jobs is a perfect example of Cork driving growth through the expansion of the local domestic economy. In 2011 36.2% or 36.7bn worth of Irish Industrial Output came from the South West, largely from Cork. The majority of this was from large multinationals including pharma giants. In Dublin, the equivalent output was 18.9%. “The Cork economy continues to grow and recover but our continued focus needs to be on reducing the costs of doing business for local small and medium sized enterprise. It is an issue I come across time and time again. The National Competitive Council in their most recent report detailed the dangers of a rising cost base for small and medium sized business. “I raised this with Minister Bruton on Friday last in Cork and emphasised the need to bring down the cost of doing business and lighten the burden of excessive red tape on Cork business. I also raised the issue of managing expectations of unions in relation to wage demands. Many companies simply cannot afford wage increases at this point in time. There is a danger that excessive union demands for wages hikes could impact on a fragile recovery and increase further the costs for local Cork business. A better solution is a reduced tax burden on wages. “I was heartened by Minister Noonans comments this week on reducing the tax burden in the next budget. This is of course preferable to wage increases as a means of getting more money into peoples pockets so that we can increase consumer sentiment and drive the local economy on further.
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 11:51:35 +0000