Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I invite the witnesses to engage on a regular basis with the joint committee in the context of its study of the unemployment sector, in respect of which it hopes to put forward suggestions and initiatives that might help create jobs. It is hoped this process will feed into the Action Plan for Jobs in 2013, which will probably be launched in February. I accept that much of the first action plan focused on basics. However, we had to get the basics right. It is hoped the next plan will move on from that and will be a lot more imaginative in terms of job creation. We need everyone to feed into the study process, the results of which will be included in the plan. The role of the joint committee will be to monitor implementation of the plan. Much of what is proposed in the current plan is basic and should, perhaps, have been done years ago. However, it is important it is done now so as to ensure we get the foundations right. It is hoped the initiatives will be increased as we move forward.

The witnesses should feel free to engage with the joint committee on any ideas they have or in regard to any opportunities to create jobs which it may have missed.