Editing Celtic Tiger (section)

==== European Union Structural and Cohesion Funds ====
Since joining the EU in 1973, Ireland has received over €17 billion in EU Structural and Cohesion Funds. These are made up of the [[European Regional Development Fund]] (ERDF) and the [[European Social Fund]] (ESF) and were used to increase investment in the [[Education in the Republic of Ireland|education system]] and to build physical infrastructure.<ref>name = "EU support for Irish Regions"[http://www.iro.ie/EU-structural-funds.html "The Irish Regions Office" Retrieved 28 March 2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918031401/http://www.iro.ie/EU-structural-funds.html |date=18 September 2012 }}</ref> These [[transfer payment]]s from members of the [[European Union]], such as [[Economy of Germany|Germany]] and [[Economy of France|France]], were as high as 4% of Ireland's [[gross national product]] (GNP). Ireland is unique among cohesion countries, having allocated up to 35% of its Structural Funds to human resource investments, compared with an average of around 25% for other cohesion fund recipients. The Irish economy's increased productive capacity is sometimes attributed to these investments, which made Ireland more attractive to high-tech businesses,<ref name="heritage">Sean Dorgan {{unfit|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100303165903/http://www.heritage.org/Research/WorldwideFreedom/bg1945.cfm "How Ireland Became the Celtic Tiger"]}} The Heritage Foundation: 23 June 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.</ref> though the libertarian [[Cato Institute]] has suggested that the EU transfer payments were economically inefficient and may have actually slowed growth.<ref>Benjamin Powell(2003). [http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-21-03.html Markets Created a Pot of Gold in Ireland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706011854/http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-21-03.html |date= 6 July 2008 }}. Cato Institute. Accessed 4 November 2006.</ref> The conservative [[The Heritage Foundation|Heritage Foundation]] also attributed to transfer payments no significant role in causing growth.<ref name="heritage"/>