Yeah I think you're spot on with everything. I think some change in direction is needed for the long term but it's something we are not really seeing which is concerning.

The well known MNCs seem to be here largely in an operational capacity, the majority of their workforce would be something like trust/risk/support/finance/sales. In terms of "R&D" and "innovation", work that develops the products and services that are sold, I see very little of that happening in Ireland. Yet these companies have huge engineering and product teams in London which are still growing, and the fact they're not placed here is rather telling. For sure we've benefited from the presence of these MNCs so far, but for it to be more sustainable and for the economy to mature further I think we need to be looking to become a country that's attractive beyond being an operational base.