I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 18, 31 and 41 together.
The first and most important element in the Government's strategy for job creation is to create an environment conducive to investment and economic growth. This the Government have done through their rigorous action on the public finances. The significant results which have already been achieved with lower interest rates, low inflation, a stable exchange rate, higher growth and a reduction in the debt/GNP ratio will directly aid the creation of new employment and thus lessen the very high level of unemployment.
The Government's strategy for employment creation is being developed primarily on a sectoral basis and will build upon the more competitive environment generated by the Government's fiscal and monetary policies. Because available resources are strictly limited, the Government intend to concentrate them on those sectors where there is the best hope of generating real sustainable jobs and where the best use can be made of our indigenous skills and resources. The Government have identified the following sectors as having the best potential for extra job creation: marine, food, tourism, horticulture and forestry. Ministers have been appointed with specific responsibility in each of these areas to ensure that their full potential is realised.
In so far as manufacturing industry is concerned, the objective of Government policy is to create approximately 20,000 extra jobs on average per year over the next ten years, with the actual provision accelerating as the programme policies take effect. The target for new jobs to be created in 1987 with assistance from the IDA and SFADCo is 12,600. In addition, it is expected that approximately 5,000 to 6,000 extra jobs will arise through recoveries of jobs previously lost in industry.
Work on the development of sectoral strategies for selected areas of manufacturing industry and for which my Department has responsibility is being undertaken under the aegis of my Department. These strategies will draw upon the work of the Sectoral Development Committee, which is comprised of representatives of industry, trade unions and Government. These strategies will be based upon market research at home and abroad to identify development and employment potential; our natural resources; the new advanced skills in our workforce; the achievement of increased market share in selected sectors and markets.
There are a number of other elements which are intrinsic to the Government's strategy to create employment and expand our industrial base. These include the rationalisation of the industrial promotion agencies; giving greater priority to the market and technological orientation of indigenous industry through the expansion and growth of selected Irish companies firmly rooted in the economy; a shift in resources from the support of fixed asset investment to the upgrading of marketing, product development, R & D and management expertise; the linking of State support to the achievement of specific employment targets; the establishment of trading houses to provide a new and effective export service to indigenous firms to help them to increase their share of overseas markets; the establishment of Ministerial Offices for Trade and Marketing and for Science and Technology and the promotion of investment from overseas designed to give greater emphasis to the integration of such investment into the Irish economy.
I am quite satisfied that, with the implementation of the Government's strategy and a continuation in the improvement of the cost environment under which industry operates, the targets outlined by Government will be met.
