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Abstract
The economic impact of the marine economy is poorly understood at both a national
and regional level in Ireland. A recent paper by estimated the economic value of the
marine sector for Ireland at the national level. This paper presents a follow up analysis
of the Irish marine sector at the regional level for 2007. The paper examines the
impact of the marine sector in addressing regional disparities in Ireland, and the key
marine sectors that drive regional economic performance within the marine sector.
The analysis finds that in absolute values Dublin and the South West provide the
highest levels of marine GVA, however, as a percentage of regional GVA, the marine
sector is more important in the West and South West region. In terms of employment,
the West and South-West provide the highest levels of marine employment, and this
relationship is maintained when one examines marine employment as a percentage of
regional employment. Finally, productivity rates for the sector were highest in the
Dublin region. However, productivity in the marine-based sector was higher than the
overall regional rate for five of the eight Irish regions.