Vol. 457 No. 3
30 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Finance if he will introduce a range of measures which will help to stimulate the rate of job growth in view of the relatively high growth rates within the economy and the extremely disappointing levels of employment. [15175/95]
It is incorrect to suggest that Ireland's employment performance is disappointing. The latest Labour Force Survery data indicate that in the year to April 1994 employment grew by 30,000. My Department estimates that employment will have grown by about 70,000, over the period 1993 to 1995.
This is a very strong employment performance indeed, especially when compared with employment growth in the main OECD economies. According to the latest published OECD forecasts, (June 1995), employment in Ireland will grow by an average of 2.3 per cent from 1994 to 1996, while the EU and OECD averages will be less than half of one per cent.
According to the latest data, manufacturing employment increased by 10,300 in the twelve month period to March 1995. Furthermore, the latest ESRI/IBEC surveys show that manufacturers are optimistic about future employment prospects.
However, the Government is committed to increasing the rate of job growth as far as possible and has already introduced a wide range of measures for this purpose. In particular, the main thrust of the 1995 budget was towards employment creation through reducing taxes and PRSI on employers and employees.
