Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 May 2016
218. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the starting period from which the job targets projected up until 2020 will commence as envisaged under the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11153/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland’s return to economic growth has demonstrated our ability, through concerted efforts across Government to focus actions on those areas that help to create jobs. We have made substantial progress since the Action Plan for Jobs process was first introduced in 2012. We can point to the considerable strides made with 1.9 million people at work today (QNHS Q4 2015) and an unemployment rate down to 8.4 percent in April 2016.
Yet, we still have some way to go.
The Programme for Government sets out a target to create an additional 200,000 jobs over the period 2016 to 2020, informed by our statement on enterprise policy, Enterprise 2025, which set out Ireland’s potential across a number of key metrics. Achieving our ambition for sustainable job growth will require a continued cross government focus on addressing the challenges and realising the ambition set out in Enterprise 2025.
To deliver on this ambitious target, in the Programme for Government we commit to maintaining the OECD endorsed Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) Process that will set out, on an annual basis, the best ideas for job creation within available resources. Building on this process, we will also implement regional jobs plans, with local input, to help spread growth to all areas. Our aim is for an unemployment rate in each region that is within one percent of the State average by 2020.
The focus on job creation is a government wide agenda, and it involves:
- One: a focus on achieving a leap forward in the capacity and the performance of enterprises based here/ and in attracting further investment : we will put in place an extra €500 million in capital funding to accelerate export led jobs growth across Ireland’s regions;
- Two: focusing investments in areas where Ireland can differentiate itself internationally – specifically Talent (education & Skills); Place-making (attractive places to live and work); Innovation (continuing to invest and stimulating increased RD&I activity by enterprises) and being Connected (including through our trade and investment linkages, collaborations and clustering): among other initiatives, we will double the number of apprenticeships by 2020 and promote creativity and entrepreneurial capacity in students; increase the capital budget for local and regional roads by 50 percent in the years ahead as the national finances are repaired; and
- Three: excelling on getting the fundamentals right in terms of finance, cost competitiveness, tax environment and economic infrastructures. The Programme for Government commits to introducing tax incentives to support our entrepreneurs and job creators, including further reducing Capital Gains Tax for new start-ups, and increasing the earned income tax credit for the self-employed. We will maintain a focus on protecting our national competitiveness from unsustainable cost growth.
Only a strong economy supporting people at work can pay for the services needed to create a fair society. It is entrepreneurs and businesses that create jobs. Our aim is to provide a supportive environment for enterprise and employment and to ensure that we deliver on our ambition for more inclusive prosperity. The focus on sustainable job creation requires continued and concerted efforts as Ireland operates in an intensely competitive global environment.
Our employment targets are ambitious, but achievable. It is our ambition that the benefits of recovery will be experienced throughout the country.
