Introduction
The Irish economy was officially declared to have entered recession in the second half of 2008; during the year, the economy contracted by 3.5%. The recession continued into 2009 and the economy contracted by 7.6%, and into 2010, when the economy contracted by 1.0%. According to MarketLine estimates, the economy is expected to grow by a meager 0.8% in 2011.
Features and benefits
* Understand how Ireland can be used to plan business investments or market entry through a holistic view of the country.
* Gain an understanding of the political situation in Ireland, including key figures in the country and governance indicators.
* Understand customer demographics in Ireland through analysis of income distribution and the rural-urban split, as well as healthcare and education.
Highlights
The PESTLE analysis of Ireland identifies issues that affect the country's performance using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework.
The political landscape section discusses the evolution of the political scenario in Ireland, as well as the country's economic, social, foreign, and defense policies. The section also discusses the country's performance according to World Bank Governance Indicators.
The economic landscape section outlines the evolution of Ireland's economy, as well as the country's performance in terms of GDP growth, composition by sector (agriculture, industry, and services), fiscal situation, international investment position, monetary situation, credit disbursement, banking sector, and employment.
Your key questions answered
* How does Ireland perform in terms of technology-intensive sectors like telecoms and IT, patents, and R&D expenditure trends?
* What is the legal structure in Ireland and are the laws conducive to investment?
* How does Ireland perform in terms of environmental indicators and its environmental policies?
* How does Ireland perform in terms of healthcare, income distribution, and education?
