Ireland has come through the recent international economic downturn better than most countries according to the Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen.
Speaking in an interview with the Reuters news agency today, Mr Cowen said the dollar's drop in value against the euro had raised concerns about the EU's growth forecasts but that Ireland was in a stronger position than most to weather the impact of any related reprecussions.
"We've come through the downturn internationally probably better than most," he said. "From our point of view, the horizon is a bit more positive, perhaps, than for others," he said.
The Minister voiced positive sentiments about the state of the Irish economy saying: "There's still capacity in the market for us. We have a pretty tight labour market, demand is there in the economy, consumption's up, spending's up."
He also said competition from new members of the European Union did not pose a threat to Ireland's prosperity and that Ireland remained an attractive location for inward investment.
"When foreign investors see where they want to put their plant, they are still looking here even though costs are up," he added.
Minister Cowen conceded the Government had to work hard to maintain foreign investment but was confident new EU members provided opportunity rather than risk.
"We still have many things to do to improve our attractiveness," he said, noting that only 3 per cent of Irish trade was currently with the bloc's 10 new member states.
"We're reasonably confident that we can compete in an enlarging market," Cowen said. "We see a lot of potential."
Ireland is expected to enjoy some of the strongest growth in Europe over the next few years.
Gross domestic product growth is expected at 5.1 per cent in 2005, compared to around 2 per cent for the eurozone as a whole.
