I propose to take Questions Nos. 102, 103 and 106 together.
The Action Plan for Jobs, which was published on 13 February, sets out a range of measures which are designed to support new business start-ups, improve enterprise competitiveness and help firms to grow. It aims to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016 by systematically removing obstacles to competitiveness, putting downward pressure on business costs, promoting innovation and trade, supporting new and existing businesses to develop and expand, and by deepening the impact of foreign direct investment in Ireland. The Action Plan also includes a number of targeted, sector-specific measures to unlock the full potential of enterprise to create jobs.
Small and medium enterprises will benefit, in particular, from measures such as:
the establishment of a new "one-stop-shop" structure for micro enterprise support;
the roll out of the Microfinance Fund for small new start-ups;
the introduction of a new temporary Partial Credit Guarantee scheme, which will address the problem of access to finance for viable SMEs that do not meet the normal lending criteria of the banks;
the expansion of mentoring schemes, particularly between multinational companies and SMEs; and
measures to improve access to public procurement opportunities for SMEs.
The Action Plan for Jobs is part of a wider, whole of Government response to the jobs crisis, which includes also the recently published plan for labour market activation, Pathways to Work. Both documents are fundamentally linked and recognise the need to reform our policies and our structures to secure long-term and lasting results for our enterprise base and for job-seekers.
The Action Plan for Jobs contains a number of measures to support employers to recruit people from the Live Register when vacancies arise. These include simplification and extension of the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme which exempts employers from liability to pay employer's PRSI for certain employees. This scheme will be extended to cover the first 18 months of employment while the eligibility criteria for job seekers will also be amended and improved. The Government will promote the increased take up of this scheme through business and employer representatives. Similarly, the Government will target the increased take-up of Revenue's Job Assist scheme, which provides for a double wages deduction to employers who employ a person who has been unemployed for 12 months or more.
Under Pathways to Work, the public employment services will be reformed through the creation of the new National Employment and Entitlements Service, which will provide better targeted services to both job seekers and employers. The new service will include the provision of recruitment and job-matching services for employers, to facilitate the hiring of workers from the Live Register.