Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1896. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the projects her Department is prioritising in budget 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26145/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince launching the Action Plan for Jobs in 2012, there are 176,000 additional people at work. The unemployment rate has fallen from 15.1% in 2012 to 8.3% in July this year. The Action Plan for Jobs as a whole of government approach to supporting employment growth across all sectors of the economy is working. As part of the Government’s commitment to create 200,000 jobs by 2020, with 135,000 to be outside Dublin, and to attract back 70,000 emigrants, the enterprise agencies of my Department have been set stretch targets for job creation in their client firms over the coming years. Achieving these targets will be all the more challenging in the context of the UK Referendum result in June 2016.
I welcome progress in last year’s Budget. I am working with the Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to continue to prioritise funding for the jobs, enterprise and innovation support programmes of the agencies of my Department.
Ensuring that Budget 2017 retains a clear focus on improving competitiveness for talent and regarding work, for investment and for enterprise and entrepreneurship will be essential to delivering those stretch job targets.
The Programme for a Partnership Government is clear on the enterprise development priorities that this Government will seek to advance and the focus of our tax reforms to keep Ireland competitive. We are committed to our 12.5% Corporation Tax rate. We are committed to tackling aggressive international tax planning through the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative. We will ensure that the newly introduced Knowledge Development Box encourages both Irish and multi-national companies to develop their knowledge-based capital in Ireland. We are focused on making Ireland's personal taxation system more competitive and to ensure that high personal tax rates do not discourage work and jobs. We are also committed to reducing the rate of Capital Gains Tax for new start-ups and to exploring mechanisms through which SMEs can reward key employees with share options in a tax efficient manner.
I will continue to work closely with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure we sustain the momentum of recent Budgets in prioritising measures that can best support employment and enterprise.
