John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to support the jobs initiative announced on Tuesday by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan. Following the Minister's speech I was sitting at the back of Chamber beside a Fianna Fáil Member, who shall remain unknown, who said to me: "Why didn't we do that? Why didn't we implement some of the initiatives announced by the Minister?" I am not surprised that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, has taken such a personal interest in this initiative. It is something he promoted even prior to being in Government. I recall two or three years ago Deputy Noonan, when sitting where Deputy Crowe is now sitting, being one of the first Members of the House to highlight that we did not just have a banking or fiscal budgetary difficulty but we had a jobs disaster in this country. There are approximately 440,000 people on the live register. For each of those people and their families this is not alone an economic disaster but a social disaster. Many of them are considering leaving the country. Many people have already left.

The jobs initiative announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, is a first step by this Government in terms of providing hope for unemployed people in this country in terms of their being able to remain here and have a future. I commend him on his efforts in that regard. It is important to state what is the Government's role in regard to job creation. I am not a statist in terms of the Government's position with regard to creating employment. I believe its role is to create the environment through which employment can be created. All of the initiatives contained in the Minister's announcement on Tuesday are with that in mind. I heard a Sinn Féin speaker say earlier that interns only take up jobs. Internships exist across the world. Part of the reason for taking on an intern for three or six months is to see if a position can be created for him or her to fill, which underpins the Government's announcement in this regard.

I support the changes announced by the Minister in regard to employers' PRSI and the reduction in some areas in the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9%. I agree with what Deputy Kieran O'Donnell had to say in regard to the tourism industry. One of the most disastrous moves by the previous Government was the introduction of the travel tax. I am heartened by the Minister's announcement that the Government is in negotiations with airlines with a view to removing the charge completely and ensuring, in tandem with this, we attract extra tourists to the country. We have invested millions of euro, taxpayers' money, by way of tax breaks to provide top quality hotels and other infrastructure throughout the country. We have an advantage in the tourism sector which the previous Government undermined by the introduction of the travel tax. We should be using that advantage. That is why I fully support the abolition of the travel tax.

There have been concrete announcements by the Government of increased funding for roads, schools under the summer works scheme, as well as the retrofit scheme. This will provide real jobs, particularly in the sector of the economy that has been most hit. I could not begin to tell the House the number of friends of mine who left school early to work on building sites and now find themselves all over the world because of the previous Government's failed policy of over-reliance on construction. Many of these friends are still in the country but unemployed. With others, they will benefit directly from the Government's announcement on the retrofit scheme, the summer works scheme and roads grants.

I support Deputy Kieran O'Donnell's point on the pension levy. The handling fees charged by private pension scheme providers in this country are twice those charged in the neighbouring jurisdiction. There is no reason for the 0.6% levy to be passed on to the consumer. Pension scheme providing companies could easily absorb it and still have a larger percentage handling fee than that charged in the neighbouring economy. As we are supporting the financial sector, it is time for that sector to support the Government's jobs initiative.

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