Remarks by President McAleese on the occasion of the Financial Services Ireland Annual Dinner
Remarks by President McAleese on the occasion of the Financial Services Ireland Annual Dinner Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin 4
Tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith anseo i bhur measc anocht ag an ócáid seo. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht an chuireadh a thug sibh dom.
Good evening everybody. It is a great pleasure to attend your Annual Dinner. My thanks to Aileen O’Donoghue for inviting me and for this opportunity to meet and to talk to so many leaders in the Irish Financial Services Industry.
It’s an industry with an astonishing success story to tell across its full spectrum, whether its predominant for-profit sector, or its smaller but significant not-for-profit sector. Your industry is now manifestly a crucial driver of the Irish economy. It is a substantial employer, an exemplar in driving productivity, a provider of the sophisticated financial services needed by individuals and organisations in our progressive economy and, increasingly, it is a significant exporter.
The evidence of your industry’s presence and success can be seen in many parts of Ireland and not only Dublin, its traditional hub. The high-quality employment you offer has had a marked and visible leavening effect on regional economic development and civic confidence. The financial services you offer can widen people’s life chances and seed the success of many businesses underpinning Irish entrepreneurialism. There is a, difficult-to-measure but nonetheless, tangible, affirming impact on people and on communities which is contributing to a fresh imagination and ambition in place of the old “worn-out-ness” of underachieving. These achievements are important to acknowledge, and to be grateful for, but along with them comes a very real responsibility for the overall wellbeing, character and destiny of Ireland Inc.
Ireland has a vested interest in your future, in what you do and in how you do it. We have that interest both as citizens and as consumers. Our consumer interests are in part protected by the fact that you are a regulated industry and a competitive industry, by your own adherence to ethical standards and practices, and by our own eternal vigilance. Our interests in high standards, good value and best practice as citizens are reassured by those things but also by initiatives like Business in the Community and the increased commitment to corporate social responsibility. These things build a web of interconnectedness and trust, of mutuality and shared endeavour which is good for both business and for civic society. It makes jobs more fulfilling. It makes lived lives better. It harnesses our resources and harvests our potential more effectively, helping the consolidation of effort which will help keep this small nation a big player in the global economy.
The recent strategy document ‘Building on Success’ marks a very significant roadmap for the future development of the International Financial Services Industry in Ireland. Your vision and ambition for the future development of the Financial Services Industry means a lot to our country and I look forward to seeing this industry build on its platform of considerable past achievement. The collaboration between the parties which made this strategy document possible and the culture of partnership which will deliver its objectives are strong evidence of the deep reserves of imagination, innovation and the openness which this industry can call on. Forums such as the Clearing House Group and the Financial Services Consultative Industry Panel that works with the Financial Regulator all show an appreciation of the power of collaboration and of the open dialogue which is the hallmark of public policy in Ireland. Such fora provide genuine opportunities to this industry to raise issues of concern and discuss solutions that enable the sector to continue to grow and contribute further to Ireland’s contemporary success story.
I believe this story has many more chapters yet to be written and that, in many ways, we are only still on the opening pages. Financial Services Ireland has helped write a dramatic and encouraging script for early 21st century Ireland and I wish each of you well as you keep adding new installments to a story no-one would have believed had it been written as fiction thirty years ago. That it is fact, that it has transformed life for a huge majority – these are things to be proud of, and to commit to securing for the generations to come. I wish you success in the part you will play in the ongoing transformation of Ireland.
Enjoy the rest of the evening,
Go n-eirí go geal libh agus go raibh maith agaibh.