Department of Finance Annual Policy Conference 2024
-
From: Department of Finance
- Published on: 4 July 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Event overview
Theme:
The Department of Finance Annual Policy Conference took place on 4th July 2024 in the River Suites, the Central Bank of Ireland on North Wall Quay in Dublin. The event was hosted in conjunction with the Foundation for Fiscal Studies. The theme of the conference was ‘planning for the impact of global megatrends’ - assessing the potential impact of the ‘Four Ds’ (digitalisation, demographics, decarbonisation and de-globalisation) on Ireland’s economy.
Context:
There is an interconnection between the 4Ds; with digitalisation requiring energy, decarbonisation becomes more challenging and de-globalisation could increase the cost of technologies/products that are essential for decarbonisation. AI’s speed of adoption is much faster than previous technologies. Its speed of change also requires agility and flexibility in policy responses to understand its potential impact on the Irish economy and labour market. De-globalisation trends also affect Ireland’s trade, and have potential implications on industrial policy. The conference had two deep dive sessions on digitalisation and de-globalisation respectively and a panel discussion on the impact of the 4Ds, providing the opportunity to discuss these topics.
Programme
| Time | Topic | ||
| 13:30 | Registration and tea/coffee | ||
| 14:00 | Conference welcome/Opening speech: Jack Chambers TD, Minister of Finance | ||
| 14:10 | Deepdive 1: The potential impacts of Digitalisation on the Irish Economy | ||
| Chair: Chair: Prof Frances Ruane | |||
| Prof Stephen Kinsella , UL | |||
| John McCarthy, Chief Economist, Department of Finance | |||
| David Lee, CTO and Technology Consulting Partner, PwC | |||
| Joan Mulvhill, Digitalisation & Sustainability Lead, Siemens Ireland | |||
| Dr Frank O’Donnell, Public Sector Lead, Microsoft | |||
| Q&A | |||
| 15:05 | Tea/coffee break | ||
| 15:30 | Deepdive 2: The potential impacts of De-Globalisation on the Irish Economy | ||
| Chair: Prof Frances Ruane | |||
| Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland | |||
| Prof Frank Barry, TCD | |||
| Gerard Brady, IBEC | |||
| Dr Martina Lawless, ERSI Researcher | |||
| 16:30 | Panel discussion: The Impact of the 4Ds | ||
| Chair: Chair: Colm Kelly, PwC Global Leader for Corporate Sustainability & Chairman of Foundation for Fiscal Studies** | |||
| Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor, Central bank of Ireland | |||
| Enda McDonagh, Managing Partner, PwC Ireland, Board Member of Foundation for Fiscal Studies | |||
| Jim Breslin, Former Secretary General of DFHERIS, Board Member of Foundation for Fiscal Studies | |||
| Ruth Kennedy, Revenue Commissioner, Board Member of Foundation of Fiscal Studies | |||
| 17:10 | Closing remarks |
Documents
Annual Policy Conference - Summary
Annual Policy Conference - Information Booklet