Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 November 2016
201. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the degree to which she expects to be in a position to meet job creation targets in the manufacturing and services sector in each area throughout the country over the next five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33185/16]
View answerThe goal of this Government is to support the creation of an additional 200,000 jobs by 2020 with 135,000 outside Dublin. These jobs will be in both the manufacturing and services sector. This is a whole of Government effort and is delivered through our integrated Action Plan for Jobs.
The Action Plan for Jobs is one of the Government’s key instruments to support job creation. The Action Plan for Jobs process is working. Since the first Plan was launched in early 2012, there are 176,800 more people at work bringing total employment in the State to 2,014,400 by end of June 2016. The annual jobs target is agreed in the Action Plan for Jobs – the target for 2016 is to help create an additional 50,000 jobs. We are making good progress. There were 36,000 additional people at work in the first six months of the year.
The Regional Action Plans for Jobs aim to have an additional 10% to 15% at work in each region by 2020. The first progress reports on the implementation of the eight Plans, covering the period to June 2016, are being finalised and will be published shortly.
The process to develop APJ 2017 is currently underway. My priority is to deliver a business environment which enhances our competitiveness and supports sustainable enterprise and employment growth in all regions. I will be working closely with colleagues across Government over the coming months to ensure that the 2017 Plan is ambitious and impactful and keeps us on track to deliver on our 2020 jobs targets.
