Vol. 804 No. 2
1. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the implications of the Supreme Court ruling on registered employment agreements; his plans for legislation following the ruling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24550/13]
In recent years, there has been a continuing series of legal challenges to the JLC and registered employment agreement, REA, systems, including the 2011 Grace Fried Chicken case that resulted in the High Court striking down all employment regulation orders, EROs, and the recent Supreme Court ruling in respect of REAs.
As the Deputies will be aware, on 1 August last, a new legal framework for REAs and EROs was put in place by way of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012. The Act provided for a comprehensive suite of measures to strengthen their constitutional and legal framework, to allow for enhanced flexibility of application and to restore and underpin the protections afforded to workers.
The recent Supreme Court judgment held that Part III of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 was invalid having regard to Article 15.2.1° of the Constitution. That article provides, in effect, that the exclusive power to make laws is vested in the Oireachtas. The Supreme Court took the view that REAs were instruments having the status of laws made by private individuals, subject only to a limited power of veto by a subordinate body. While the Constitution allows for the limited delegation of law-making functions, the provisions of the 1946 Act went beyond what was permissible under the Constitution.
The effect of this decision is to invalidate the registration of employment agreements previously registered under Part III of the 1946 Act. In consequence, the Labour Court no longer has jurisdiction to enforce, interpret or otherwise apply these agreements. As a result, all such agreements no longer have any application beyond the subscribing parties and are not enforceable in law. However, existing contractual rights of workers in sectors covered by REAs are unaffected.
There were six existing sectoral REAs registered or varied by the Labour Court in recent years. It is estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 workers were covered by these sectoral agreements. In addition, there were more than 50 employment agreements covering individual enterprises that had been registered. The striking down of the REAs means that new employees in these sectors can now be hired at a rate agreed between workers and their employers. This is subject only to the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
From the parties' perspective, REAs established industry terms and conditions and provided a sense of certainty when tendering. They were recognised under European Union law and, through the posted workers directive, ensured that contractors from outside the jurisdiction, who may be using employees from lower wage economies, did not obtain an advantage over local contractors in terms of wage costs.
This is a significant judgment that requires careful consideration and I have asked the Attorney General to advise on all issues. That advice is awaited as is the order of the Supreme Court and, until these are received, I am not in a position to indicate what, if any, legislative response may be required.
Can I make a general comment about questions today? I tabled eight questions about the serious issue of SME finance and finance for business and its implications for job creation and enterprise growth. All of the questions were transferred to the Department of Finance for answer by the end of June. I am writing to the Ceann Comhairle on the issue. SME finance is a major issue for business. The understanding of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is completely different from that of the Department of Finance, which is why we asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for his views on a range of topics. It is unacceptable-----
It is not a matter for the Chair.
I want to put it on the record of the House. It is unacceptable that we are not allowed to raise SME finance and the various challenges surrounding it with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
There is one minute per question and one minute per reply.
In his response, the Minister outlined that the key challenge was that new employees could now be taken on by existing companies and others under the minimum wage. That gives such companies a huge competitive advantage over those companies that are part of the REA and have contractual obligations to it. As long as there is some sort of doubt over this, that competitive advantage will grow and there will be a loss of existing employment and existing terms and conditions. Is it planned to implement legislation before the summer recess or will this be allowed to drag on into the autumn and companies that are currently signed up to the REA will suffer loss of contracts and an inability to be competitive in applying for tenders because they are adhering to the REA and their contractual obligations? Has the Minister any emergency legislation on this issue under consideration?
This Supreme Court action was taken under the 1946 Act. It was not taken under the Act passed in 2012. It preceded that. That is important in terms of timing. In drafting the 2012 Act, we were aware of this pending action and have sought to make the legislation robust to such challenges. Obviously, we have not yet got a final order from the Supreme Court nor have we got advice from the Attorney General so I will not speculate on any of those avenues about which the Deputy is asking.
In respect of the transfer of the questions to the Department of Finance, these are matters of ministerial responsibility in different areas but there are questions on access to finance down here which I am answering later on the floor.
I emphasise that there is a serious lacuna here for companies that adhere to their contractual obligations under the REA system and continue in good faith despite the striking down of the REA, as opposed to other companies that will now use the competitive advantage open to them while that space is there. The Minister said the REAs were not enforceable in law and there is now a huge competitive advantage open to companies in terms of tendering for major projects while that lacuna exists. It is a matter of urgency that needs to be addressed as soon as the Minister has the Supreme Court order and the information from the Attorney General.
I accept that but I presume that the REAs must renew under the new legislation.
2. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will detail the presentations that he has received calling for special provision to be made for senior executives in multinational companies; and if he will outline the business case developed by him to promote such special provisions. [24510/13]
The special assignee relief programme, SARP, is a tax concession for the temporary placement in Ireland of senior executives currently employed elsewhere by a multinational company. In essence, if we can attract the correct strategic senior executives to Ireland, he or she may bring hundreds more jobs.
The business case for SARP is to make it easier for companies to locate strategic leaders in Ireland for a short-term assignment in order to facilitate the establishment of job-creating opportunities in Ireland. Rapid and successful ramp up of projects frequently requires such assignments. It is regarded by the IDA as an important tool in attracting mobile investment and in facilitating its successful delivery of targets in Ireland.
In advance of budget 2012, I received representations from the independent enterprise development agencies - Forfás, IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland - for improvements to SARP. As the Deputy will be aware, SARP was improved and streamlined in budget 2012. I received further similar representations from the enterprise development agencies for further improvements in advance of budget 2013. The pre-budget 2012 and 2013 submissions of a wide range of industry representative organisations, for example, IBEC and the American Chamber of Commerce, included recommendations to improve SARP. The CEO of the IDA has called for improvements to SARP in order to strengthen the tools Ireland uses to attract, retain and develop foreign direct investment.
The various pre-budget submissions received have called for improvements to the attractiveness of SARP. My pre-budget 2013 submission to the Minister for Finance called for a reduction in the personal tax rate under SARP from 35.7% to 30%. Technically, it was proposed that this would be achieved via a 23% income tax rate together with the 7% universal social charge. Such an improvement would strengthen the ability of Ireland's SARP to be used as a tool in attracting foreign direct investment.
The five-year lower personal tax rate under SARP is targeted at individuals currently working outside of Ireland. Many of the senior executives claiming tax relief under SARP would not have moved to Ireland if it were not for SARP. The costs of SARP are more than offset via the economic benefits. Many other jurisdictions against which Ireland competes for foreign direct investment have SARP-type personal tax incentives to attract senior executives. Ireland is in a jobs crisis and we must do whatever we can to attract and create jobs.
The Minister is right. Ireland is in a jobs crisis and we must do everything we can to promote jobs. What we need to do is create sustainable competitive advantages so that we can compete with any other country in the world with regard to foreign direct investment.
However, on many occasions this Government has chosen the unsustainable competitive advantage route. The proposal for an income tax of 23% for those earning up to €500,000 is unsustainable in a number of ways. It is unsustainable with regard to low and middle income earners who are being taxed to the hilt in order to carry the weight of the economy. Ireland was mentioned in London last week and in Washington yesterday in the context of Google and Apple, respectively. The leadership of Apple, under oath, said there were deals for major tax incentives between this Government and that company. These incentives are completely unsustainable. Instead of such companies being incentivised to develop jobs in this country they are setting up smaller units, pushing exports through those units and they are not properly paying taxes on those units.
Will the Minister come clean and say whether his Government has any tax incentive deals, whatsoever, with any multinational company?
The companies to which the Deputy refers, Google and Apple, between them employ more than 6,000 people in Ireland. These are real substantive companies providing significant employment and they are very competitive players.
I repeat what the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance said: there are no special deals under our tax code with any company. This is categorically the truth. As the Deputy knows, our tax code is statute based. All the measures are enshrined in statute in the Finance Act and are fully transparent. There are no special negotiated rates. I will not speculate as to the situation in the past but I suspect that in 1980, under export sales relief, there was a special sectoral scheme in the sense that exports did not attract tax at that stage. This may be what is being referred to.
I dispute absolutely the Deputy's suggestion that we are seeking to build companies that do not have sustainable competitive advantage in Ireland. Companies are in Ireland because of the talent, technology and track record. Indeed, the special assignee relief programme, SARP, is used in many countries to bring in strategic people who can build short-term projects which will result in long-term job creation. It is a completely acceptable approach.
In Sinn Féin's view, in order to achieve a real, sustainable, competitive advantage, the cost of doing business must not be prohibitive. I refer to utility costs which are higher in Ireland than the average in the rest of Europe, such as waste management and water costs. There is a need to provide an educated society so we can attract jobs but funding is being pulled out of the education system. Broadband infrastructure is needed to allow companies to communicate. These elements are necessary to create long-term competitive advantages which will attract jobs to this country. Unfortunately, Ireland is regarded internationally as a tax haven by gaining competitive advantage in foreign direct investment on the basis of a very low tax base. Will the Minister give his views on the suggestion that Ireland's reputation has been damaged, as seen in the evidence given under oath by a senior Apple executive that a deal was done between his company and this State to confer tax advantages on his company?
I am surprised at the Deputy's remarks. I should not need to tell any Member of the Oireachtas that there are no deals in our tax regime. I am sure the Deputy was party to the debates on the Finance Bill. Our legislation is set out clearly. There are no special deals with any company. Such special deals apply in some countries which are competitors of ours which spin their own tax deals for individual projects. It is the categoric truth that this never happens in Ireland. This country is categorically not a tax haven. Tax havens have been defined clearly by the OECD. Ireland is co-operating with the OECD in ensuring that there is not artificial movement of profits. There is an international study of how companies pay their taxes.
I am surprised the Deputy would take as gospel the word of some politician from another jurisdiction who accuses us of being a tax haven. That is not the case; Ireland is not a tax haven and never has been. I agree that we need sustainable competitive advantage. Last October, Sinn Féin talked about having a €13 billion spend. However, at budget time only a couple of months later, that had evaporated from its programme-----
That is not true. The troika acknowledged it and it is still our policy.
The Sinn Féin path is not sustainable.
3. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of visits his Department and the employment agencies have arranged to a vacant plant (details supplied) in County Tipperary; the possibilities of finding an industry for the plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24519/13]
I have been informed by IDA Ireland that, in the period from January 2012 to date, five of the six site visits by potential investors to south Tipperary visited the vacant Cordis facility in Cashel. These visits were from new companies visiting the location and region for the first time and from senior executives of existing client companies.
IDA Ireland has confirmed that it is actively promoting the vacant Cordis facility as a modern biopharmaceutical-medical technology facility. I understand that the building is an IMB-audited facility, with fully equipped analytical quality control and development laboratories, as well as office-administration space. It has high-specification clean room space and flexible production space. It is a large facility - 16,600 sq. m - with ample expansion space. It is a modern facility that is readily adaptable for use as a medical technology or biopharmaceutical facility, particularly a convergent technology development and manufacturing facility.
This specification serves to align it with current requirements in the life sciences sector - for example, clinical trial production and commercial process development of next-generation medical devices or biologics taking place in a location that has the competencies required to scale up to commercial manufacturing and to meet exacting regulatory authorisation requirements. IDA Ireland has confirmed that in addition, Johnson and Johnson corporate real estate services division is marketing the building. It has appointed an agent in Ireland with a view to seeking alternative users from within the Johnson and Johnson group of companies, particularly from other business units with no prior presence in Ireland.
The pharmaceutical-biopharmaceutical sector today employs in the region of 25,000 people in Ireland and is a very significant contributor to the economy as measured by exports, corporate tax and Irish economy expenditure, in addition to direct employment. Internationally the industry is undergoing significant transformation from traditional pharmaceutical drugs based on small molecules to biopharmaceutical drugs based on large molecules. It is forecast that by 2016, seven of the top ten blockbuster drugs will be biologics.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
In recent years, IDA Ireland has had a sustained marketing focus on the biotechnology sector and as a result the agency has successfully attracted and developed globally leading programmes from companies such as Allergan, Amgen, Centocor, Eli Lilly, Genzyme, Merck, Biomarin and Pfizer. Ireland now has a globally leading biopharmaceutical cluster in the next generation of pharmaceutical products. Over the past ten years Ireland has seen 15 major investments in biopharma manufacturing. Based on some recent announcements an average investment of €400 million is not untypical and the average per project is of the order of 200 high-value manufacturing jobs. These investments have mitigated Ireland’s exposure to the patent cliff on older products.
From across its existing companies, IDA continues to win large scale investments in product development and capability building to take on new product mandates. Ireland already has successful generic manufacturers such as Clonmel Healthcare, Ranbaxy, Wockhardt, Teva and Rowa. These companies have operated successfully from Ireland competing with low cost competition for many years. Some of these investments also have a big construction impact.
I welcome the reply from the Minister of State. I note there have been a number of visits to this site and Johnson and Johnson is helping in the search for a new tenant for this facility. Foreign direct investment has resulted in the creation of new jobs and the availability of a modern state-of-the-art plant at Cashel, the former Cordis plant, must make the search easier. Jobs are very badly needed in south Tipperary. IDA Ireland produced only ten new jobs in south Tipperary last year. Other plants in the county have seen significant job losses. The current unemployment statistics for the county are horrendous. In the town of Cashel, unemployment has increased from just under 400 in 2008 to 1,200 currently. The situation is the same in other towns around the county.
I wish to assure the Deputy that IDA Ireland is working very hard to find an occupier.
This is a fantastic facility in a cluster that is recognised for life sciences. In south Tipperary alone, eight IDA client companies employ 3,500 people. It is important to emphasise that aspect. The fact that it is a fantastic cluster will enhance the opportunity to find an occupier for the facility as will the fact that 3,500 people are working in IDA companies in the region. This is about the promotion of the region which has a major regional advantage given the existence of the cluster. The IDA is actively bringing people to see the facility, with five of the six companies having visited it. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, is actively discussing the matter with the IDA every chance he gets. There is a great opportunity here. The Minister sits on the south east forum and employment in the region is very much a critical focus of Government. I am very confident about this facility given the emphasis of the Government on the south east, the location of the life science cluster and the fact that 3,500 people are already employed in eight IDA client companies in the region.
I stress the fact that there are a number of flagship industries in the area, including medical device and pharmaceutical companies. These companies are prepared to liaise and partner with incoming foreign direct investment companies at the state-of-the-art site at Cashel. I appeal to the Minister and Minister of State to make every effort to ensure that a tenant is obtained for the facility as soon as possible and, in any event, before the end of the year.
On the success of the IDA, we have been very fortunate in terms of foreign direct investment in Ireland. The IDA does an outstanding job on behalf of the economy to bring in top-calibre, high-tech companies, especially in the life sciences. Johnson and Johnson is a huge organisation which is working actively with the IDA and has appointed personnel. I emphasise to Deputy Healy the clear message that the Government and the IDA is prioritising the facility in every way possible. It is a state-of-the-art facility, at which five companies have looked. The intention of Government is to ensure that getting an occupier for this fantastic facility is an IDA priority in the south east. We are doing everything we can to make that happen.
I welcome that and hope it comes to fruition very quickly.
4. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether a target of 20,000 additional manufacturing jobs can be achieved by 2016; the measures necessary to achieve this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24405/13]
The potential of the manufacturing sector has been neglected in recent years. In consequence, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, I established a manufacturing forum chaired by Patrick Miskelly and supported by an analysis team in Forfás to develop a detailed strategy for manufacturing, which I launched last month along with a separate strategy on the skill needs of manufacturing prepared by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. More than 205,000 people are now employed in manufacturing, which makes a very substantial contribution to the economy in terms of exports, purchase of materials and services, regional spread and innovation. The report makes clear that a do-nothing strategy could lead to continuing job losses in the sector and sets out a strategy which the authors believe to have the potential to create 20,000 jobs by 2016. This is an ambitious target. The report identifies four areas of opportunity including sectors with potential, adapting and responding to changing global supply chains, developing and adapting new technologies and materials and developing the indigenous potential for start-up companies and scaling. Key actions are proposed across a range of areas, including access to new funding, management training and support, cost reduction, technology adoption, extending international reach, improving innovation capacity, developing skills bases and the implementation of a national step change initiative.
The policy sets out eight distinct policy areas involving 63 actions in all. These actions include new start-up and capability funds to be run by Enterprise Ireland specifically to target supports for new manufacturing start-ups and to support capital investment by manufacturing companies. Enterprise Ireland and the IDA are to target additional financial supports for research and development investments specifically at engineering firms. Also included is a new national step change initiative available to all Enterprise Ireland and IDA client companies which will systematically support manufacturing companies to expand their client bases through staff training and peer learning, improve their adoption of new technologies, embrace research and development and accelerate collaboration between companies in similar sectors to generate greater efficiencies in areas like global sourcing.
We have placed a great deal of attention in recent years on the service and pharmaceutical industries but it is important to remember that approximately 206,000 people are employed in manufacturing. In 2012, manufacturing companies exported €79 billion of merchandise and sourced €14 billion of produce from within the island. It is a hugely important sector and I welcome the focus the Minister has put on it. The challenge now is to put substance behind that focus.
The Forfás recommendations include a start-up fund for manufacturing enterprises and financial support for capital investment by manufacturing enterprises. Does the Minister intend to prioritise those recommendations within his own budget campaign, which is under way ahead of the October budget? Will there be a funding allocation and will Enterprise Ireland receive an extra allocation in 2014 specifically intended for the manufacturing sector to ensure that the recommendations from the excellent Forfás report are implemented? Is the Minister still confident that he will reach the target of 20,000 extra manufacturing jobs by 2016?
There will be specific directed measures as I have outlined for start-up and capability funds directly targeted at the manufacturing sector. In addition, we will be using the funds we have launched, including the seed fund, small and medium enterprise fund, innovation fund and the development capital fund, to target manufacturing companies. Taken together, those funds come to €2 billion of funding supported by the State with private partnerships. Using those funds to address access to finance problems within manufacturing will be important.
I am very motivated to see the national step change initiative rolled out. It is about getting companies to step up their ambitions. Enterprise Ireland companies are really performing well, diversifying the direction of their exports, moving into new markets and improving their technology. While I am confident that we can deliver on the target, it will depend on the international environment, etc. Ours is a small and open trading economy. We have set an ambitious path with the strategy group which remains together to help us implement it. I am confident that we will make an impact.
I welcome the Minister's confidence. Has he given consideration to the increase in labour costs in what were previously developing economies, to which a great deal of manufacturing was outsourced in the middle part of the last decade, and has he identified any competitive advantage that may be derived from that labour cost increase and quality issues in those countries that may assist him in reaching the target? Does the Minister think 20,000 is perhaps an unambitious target and could he force it up to 30,000 given the amount of money being invested in the sector at the moment?
The target was set on the basis of the analysis carried out by Forfás supported by active industrialists in the sector. The strategy shows that the changing nature of globalisation is opening up opportunities. We are moving to a more personalised, customised form of manufacturing, which creates opportunities. This year, we are setting a target within the action plan of €500 million in additional global sourcing from within the supply chains of companies that are already in Ireland. There is a rich vein for us to develop here.
The target set is ambitious and we will work towards it. As the Deputy rightly says, it is about the implementation and rolling out of change. Lifting our companies is what we are seeking to do. I am fully committed to making this work.
5. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will detail the steps taken to create employment for young people; the impact of these initiatives in terms of employment outcomes; and his views on whether emigration is a life style choice. [24511/13]
All the work which the Government is doing through the Action Plan for Jobs aims to transform our economy from one that became over dependent on property, construction and debt to one focused on enterprise, innovation and exports. The Action Plan for Jobs is focused on sustaining and creating employment for new entrants to the labour market and the unemployed, many of whom are under 25. There is strong evidence that the plan is working. The IDA has had the best two years in a decade for jobs growth while Enterprise Ireland companies are winning new markets and growing employment significantly. Over the past 15 months, the private sector has added 1,000 jobs per month.
While it is true that there are continued job losses in more traditional sectors that grew disproportionately during the credit bubble, such as construction, financial, insurance and administrative activities, we have seen an increase in employment in sectors targeted by the Action Plan for Jobs, including ICT, digital gaming, tourism and the agrifood sector.
Many of the jobs on offer in these sectors are particularly attractive to young people. In addition, the Government has a range of initiatives to support young people to prepare for employment through job experience and training. These include provision by the Department of Social Protection for over 85,000 job placement, work experience and back to education beneficiaries in 2012, and the JobBridge internship scheme, which has had over 17,400 participants to date, with over 60% of participants securing jobs after their internships. Some 6,077 interns were participating last week and a further 2,189 internships were offered by companies. In Springboard, over 200 courses are available throughout the country designed to meet current and future skills needs in Ireland and in the momentum programme, specific projects will also be available to those under 25 to assist them to enter or return to employment. Other initiatives include the ICT action plan, offering training and conversion courses for the ICT sector and the EU youth guarantee being developed by the Minister for Social Protection.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
My Department is also keen to support young entrepreneurs and, in this context, initiatives such as Enterprise Ireland’s competitive start fund and new frontiers programme, along with the microenterprise loan fund, will all contribute to supporting young entrepreneurs. Last week, we commenced a consultation on how we can better promote entrepreneurship in Ireland and we will be looking in particular at the scope to increase youth entrepreneurship.
The Government recognises that there has been an increase in net emigration, particularly among young people, since the start of the recession. In the year to April 2012 net migration reached 34,000, of whom 26,000 were Irish nationals. This reflects the impact of the crash which over a three-year period saw the loss of over 250,000 jobs in the private sector. The concerted drive to make employment a top priority across the whole of Government is helping to alter that outlook for employment. Employment in the private sector is now growing by 1,000 per month. The Government’s aim is that, by continuing the process of transforming our economy step by step through the Action Plan for Jobs, we can provide opportunities for employment in Ireland.
At the last Question Time, the Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, stated that emigration was a matter of choice for many people leaving the State. Choice is about options and having the ability to choose between working here and working abroad. With the level of unemployment here, for many it is not a choice. In the two years to the end of 2012, 25,000 people under the age of 25 lost their jobs. In those two years, 38,000 people under the age of 25 left the workforce. It is clear that a significant sector of Irish society and the youth cohort have lost their jobs and left the workforce entirely. They have been forced to emigrate. I do not know if the Minister of State has had the opportunity to read the excellent report from the National Youth Council of Ireland in the past ten days. It states that 300,000 people have emigrated in the past four years.
The Deputy should frame a question.
That is a startling figure and a shocking reflection on what is happening in society. It is very important that people realise the gravity of what is involved. I ask the Minister of State the timescale for replacing the jobs lost by 25,000 people up to the end of last year. When will the youth guarantee be implemented and will part of it be a guarantee of a job?
I will provide some figures and interrogate them correctly. I acknowledge the report to which Deputy Tóibín refers. Of the 87,000 people who have emigrated from Ireland in the year up to April 2012, less than half of them, 40,600 people, were not Irish. Many of them were non-Irish people who came to Ireland over the previous decade or so for work and are now returning home. The CSO figures show 53,000 people came to Ireland last year and 20,600 were Irish nationals returning home. Extrapolating from the figures, the years from 1992 to 2012 show a certain number of Irish people choosing to emigrate for career or personal reasons. I beg indulgence of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I will call the Minister of State again.
We must distinguish between the gross figure and the net figure and extrapolate the number of people who are not Irish and who are returning to their home countries to provide a more realistic view.
With regard to youth unemployment, of the 68,000 people within the age category to which Deputy Tóibín refers up to 2012, the 15 to 19 year old category contains 18,500 people who are unemployed, with 49,500 in the 21 to 24 year old category. The idea of these schemes and the best way to ensure people do not emigrate is to ensure there is a place for people to reskill, retrain or remain within formal education. That gives them the best chance of an opportunity. There is a myriad of schemes, training programmes and educational places doing that at present.
Many of the people in the figures are not Irish nationals. They may be Polish or Lithuanian people who came to Ireland, worked here for ten years, put down roots, raised families and then found themselves unable to get a job. We are entitled to use those figures to reflect the economic situation. These people should not be left out of the economic figures when trying to get an understanding of the health of the economy. The net figures show a major outflow of people from the State due to the economic situation. The point we make is that we can create as many programmes as we like but the question of whether the Government tackles three issues - collapsed demand, infrastructural gaps that need investment and the major costs and inefficiencies in doing business in the State vis-à-vis our competitors - will determine whether we get back on our feet with regard to the creation of jobs. We need over 2% growth in the State to create jobs. The economy will create jobs, not a proliferation of jobs action plans, etc.
Perhaps the Minister of State forgot to reply on the last occasion on my question of when the youth guarantee will be in place and whether the Government will include as part of it the guarantee of a job.
The bottom line is that we want as many young people to be given the opportunity and we must create a supply of courses and upskilling. Let us take the figure of 18,500 in the 15 to 19 year old category. Why are 18,500 young people between the ages of 15 and 19 unemployed? There is no reason they cannot fit into a course, a placement, an internship or continuing education to ensure we can extrapolate from the figure of 18,500, which would cause a serious dent in the youth unemployment figure.
The same applies to the category of those aged 20 to 24. When figures are quoted, the language being used refers to Irish people emigrating. It is important to interrogate the figures and extrapolate from them because there is a natural rate of people who are welcome to this country, who work in this country and will return to their native lands.
But this is an unnatural trend.
It is important to acknowledge it. The demand side issue to which the Deputy refers is being tackled. The Action Plan for Jobs includes a number of regulatory measures to encourage business. It is acknowledged that demand has bottomed out but the Government is trying to put in place a set of measures to address the 250,000 jobs lost between 2008 and 2011. These jobs were allied, for the most part, to the construction sector so we must invest in new areas of opportunity in the sector. Those young people, who are working in mines in Australia as we speak because they have construction-related degrees, will come back and have other areas of opportunity. The Government is not resting on its laurels.
With regard to the youth guarantee, it is my understanding - and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, can clarify it further - that this is still part of the negotiations under the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
