| Jobs in financial services can be doubled by 2016 |
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By: Pat Wall, Pat Wall
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The numbers employed in the Irish financial services sector can be doubled, Pat Wall, a partner with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, told delegates at the conference. He added that for this long-term growth to happen, ‘we need to look at more cross-border co-operation in terms of leveraging the resources of the people and skills base in Northern Ireland to support this growth’. | | Pat Wall. PwC |
In the electronic voting conducted at the session, Wall’s view was supported by the audience, 67 per cent of whom agreed with Wall that the numbers employed in financial services can double over the next ten years.
After Wall’s speech, Trevor Killen, director of Invest Northern Ireland, introduced a panel debate on how Ireland will interface with other jurisdictions in the future. Killen said that Ireland has essentially two options – to grow or decline – since staying still is not an option. Mark Heaney, head of European fund services, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said that Ireland must be careful to maintain its attractiveness as a business location. ‘If Ireland is seen to be a difficult place to locate, be it from a regulatory or capacity point of view, companies will go elsewhere,’ he said. One point that emerged strongly from the panel debate was the continuing need for regionalisation of the financial services sector. There was a consensus that Ireland is a high cost economy, but that capacity still exists, if companies are prepared to locate in the regions. |
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