It is clear, looking ahead, that it would be unrealistic to expect a continuation of the growth rates of the past decade, particularly the more than 8 per cent GNP growth rate in the Celtic Tiger period between 1994 and 2000.
The reason for this is that we have largely absorbed into employment those who in the past were either unable to find employment or were discouraged from seeking employment by apparently poor job prospects. BIS Review 6/2005  1  However, there is still some scope for raising our employment rate.