Is Ireland's productivity boom real or 'artificial'? - BBC News

Irelands hosts many multinational companies which makes calculating its true productivity difficult.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, DiageoImage caption, Guinness produces 3.5 million pints of beer a day in DublinBy Naomi RaineyBusiness ReporterBehind the traffic of Dublin's Liberties, lies the sprawling factory site of one Ireland's most famous brands.

Guinness has brewed beer at its city factory since its founder, Arthur Guinness, took over a derelict building in 1759. Now, the "black stuff" is produced on a huge campus of buildings, connected up with metal piping, and accompanied by the clanging of metal kegs being transported by forklift trucks.

The operation, owned by global drinks giant Diageo, may appear far removed from Guinness' beginnings, but Aidan Crowe, operations director for beer, says the basics of brewing beer have not changed that much. "Our core process is actually very recognisable to the processes that Arthur Guinness would have used."

The Brew House at St James's Gate opened in 2013 and was the most efficient in the world at the time, Mr Crowe says. Currently, the Dublin brewery produces 3.5 million pints a day - that's 1.3 billion pints a year.

"Technology has allowed us to be dramatically more efficient, by making changes to how we manage things like cold water, steam usage, electricity usage, and so on," he says.

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