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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 May 1993

Vol. 430 No. 8

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Martin Cullen

Ceist:

55 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will give details of the proposals for job creation he will be putting forward in the Irish National Plan for submission to the EC for assistance in the next round of Structural and Cohesion Funds; and if he will make a statement of the matter.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

87 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the projections in terms of job creation arising from the National Development plan; the number of manufacturing and services jobs likely to be created over the period of the plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

158 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment his proposals for the utilisation of EC Structural Funds for the purpose of job creation; the extent to which he intends such jobs to be permanent or part-time; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 87 and 158 together.

The creation of employment and the reduction of unemployment are the primary economic policy objectives of Government. In the Programme for a Partnership Government, the Government set as Ireland's biggest challenge the need to increase the number of sustainable jobs within the economy and to reverse the rising trend of unemployment.

The National Development Plan for the new round of structural funds will have employment and job creation as a key determining factor. The Plan is being finalised at the moment and will be published shortly.

The objective of industrial development policy is to promote the development of strong internationally competitive industrial and international services sector in Ireland comprising both Irish and foreign owned companies endowed with the attributes which will enable them to compete successfully on international markets and which will make the maximum contribution to employment growth.
Achievement of this objective will be reflected in
—a greater integration of industrial activity with other sectors of the economy in order to increase the Irish value added share of industrial output;
—the development of our natural resources as a foundation for increased industrial development;
—the achievement of a satisfactory regional balance in economic development.
The Plan will reflect a continuing need to strengthen the fundamental competitive capability and innovative capacity of the indigenous sector of industry. A strong, competitive, outward-looking indigenous manufacturing and traded services sector is of fundamental importance to the development of the economy as a whole and to the creation of employment. The central focus of the measures being proposed for the period 1994-99 will be to develop the indigenous sector through an integrated development programme with each of the specific measures serving to complement the overall policy objectives.
The objectives of industrial policy will be pursued through measures to upgrade and improve the capabilities and capacity of firms and of personnel to compete in the EC Single Market for goods and services as well as in third country markets.
The attraction of mobile, manufacturing and services investment projects to operate in Ireland has been a major source of employment and a means for transferring high quality skills and capabilities to Ireland. It will continue to be an important source of such benefits.
In line with the approach of the Cullition report on Industrial Policy an important emphasis in policy for the years 1994/1999 will be to co-ordinate and, where possible, to integrate the measures to upgrade marketing, design, process and product technology and training for indigenous firms. Unlike the generality of internationally mobile firms attracted to Ireland, indigenous firms tend to have development needs in areas of marketing, technology, skills and finance for expansion/marketing which represent an obstacle to their development and expansion of trade.
While the primary emphasis must be on competitiveness and the creation of viable jobs, the plan will have to take account, as does the Programme for Government, of the large numbers of long-term unemployed who have to be reintegrated into mainstream economical activity.
I cannot be more specific at the moment about the contents of the Plan as it is still under discussion but as I have already said it will be published shortly.
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