John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----but I have always argued this point and perhaps the Minister has warmed to it as a result of the good weather. I also raised it on numerous occasions with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, and I am glad to see that common sense has prevailed on this one. I am confident the initiative will work. I agree with Deputy Dara Calleary that we should be informing all of the chambers of commerce, county enterprise boards, county development boards and Enterprise Ireland to let employers know that this facility is available.

Employers can avail of tax incentives, while employment grants are provided through the county enterprise boards. I hope and assume the JobsPlus initiative will not replace any of these incentives and that they will remain in place alongside the JobsPlus scheme. Employers need all the supports possible at this time, particularly those in rural Ireland. As elected representatives, we are in Dublin three or four days a week and see the level of economic activity in the city, but then we travel to rural Ireland and it is all doom and gloom. Many people in my part of rural Roscommon are lucky to be in work because they have migrated to the larger centres such as Dublin, Cork and Galway or else they have been forced to emigrate. Therefore, more needs to be done for employers in rural Ireland. The JobsPlus initiative will work, but I ask the Minister to reassure me that it will not replace any existing incentive aimed at job creation.

I agree with Deputy Michael Conaghan on community employment schemes. There is merit in rolling out more places on community employment schemes across the country. In the past week Castlecoote, County Roscommon won an important Tidy Towns award. It is just a small village, but thanks to all of the community employment scheme participants, it won that award. It is now possible to market a county such as Roscommon that was left on the hind teat, for want of a better phrase, for so many years. Communities working together, with the help of community employment scheme participants, are able to market and sell the county as a tourism destination. I would welcome the Minister's response on these matters.