I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 150 together.
Forecasting employment figures is a difficult business and subject to a variety of unforeseen, often extraneous, variables influencing estimates of that nature. However, I still expect employment growth — being the excess of jobs created over jobs lost — to continue in 2008 and beyond, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. The latest available employment data from CSO indicates that at Quarter 2 2008 there were almost 7,000 additional people in employment compared with the corresponding period in 2007. This is a testament to the resilience of our economy at a time of great uncertainty in global economic conditions, the continued strength of the euro and the dramatic downturn in the construction sector.
The Irish economy is undergoing a certain amount of adjustment and while the rate of employment growth is expected to slow it must be viewed in the context of historically unprecedented numbers of people in work. Since 1997, over half a million new jobs have been created in Ireland and the number in employment exceeds 2.1 million. In the period 2002-2007 the Enterprise Development Agencies created over 156,000 new full time jobs across all sectors — note the table below.
The recently launched "Report of the High Level Group on Manufacturing" contains 26 recommendations directed at key areas of innovation and productivity leading to transformational change, reskilling and management development for the innovative firm, increasing awareness and take up of existing supports. The implementation of the recommendations set out in this report will help to ensure that manufacturing will remain an integral component of our economy providing high value sustainable employment.
In tandem with our focus on adding value to the manufacturing sector, over the last two decades we have developed a very significant Services Sector which now employs two out of every three Irish workers. We are one of the world's leading service exporting countries and currently ranked the 10th highest exporter of services in the world. Earlier this month, I launched the report of the Services Strategy Group, "Catching the Wave: A Services Strategy for Ireland". The report sets out new policy proposals on how we can ensure the continued development and growth of Ireland's services sector. I believe that the implementation of these recommendations will enable Irish service companies to exploit new and exciting opportunities, such as eLearning, business and financial services, professional and consultancy services and others which will lead to significant employment opportunities for our workforce.
Competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) is relentless but Ireland continues to punch above its weight when it comes to attracting overseas investment. The pipeline of new business for which IDA Ireland is competing is strong, as evidenced by a number of high profile recent announcements. Already this year 28 new IDA investments have been announced with the potential to create 2,100 jobs over the coming years.
Looking to the future, neither the Government nor my Department are complacent regarding the varied challenges facing the country's economy. One of our main tasks is to ensure that Ireland remains an attractive place to do business and to support the development of economic competencies higher up the value chain. In that regard, we continue to work to maintain and enhance our framework competitive conditions, and promote new areas of competitive advantage by developing our R&D, base, investing in critical physical and communications infrastructures, and promoting tertiary education and lifelong learning.
We will continue to pursue policies to promote lifelong learning and up-skilling to improve labour market flexibility and, where necessary, ensure that appropriate training supports are provided for workers in sectors that are no longer competitive should they need to find alternative employment. Our priority remains the creation of high quality, sustainable employment, driven by companies with higher profitability, that are more technologically advanced and prove a better fit with the competitive characteristics of our economy.
Manufacturing & Services Job Gains in Enterprise Agency Assisted Companies in period 2002-2007
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
Total
|
Manufacturing
|
14,827
|
14,430
|
13,899
|
15,380
|
15,528
|
13,628
|
87,692
|
Services
|
11,379
|
9,097
|
11,450
|
11,847
|
13,214
|
11,881
|
68,868
|
Total
|
26,206
|
23,527
|
25,349
|
27,227
|
28,742
|
25,509
|
156,560
|