Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a target at national level outside Dublin and Cork. My challenge is how to get the midlands or whichever region to perform better and examine what enterprise strategy can be implemented, what the region's competitive strengths are, the IDA, EI and LEO strategies and how we can get the stakeholders in the regions to back credible programmes of action to drive a successful regional enterprise strategy. That is needed here. We do not debate enough where are our competitive strengths.

This year through our manufacturing initiative, we are consciously looking at the existing base of companies and trying to grow them and such an instrument can be part of a regional strategy, as can a competitive entrepreneurship fund. We need to develop more tools that can drive such a strategy and that is my ambition in this regard. I will work with colleagues to ascertain how that can be worked out.

With regard to the taxation of entrepreneurship, if we could simplify the successors to the BES, including the EIIS, and make them more user friendly, that would be my priority. They apply to the start-up phase and a PAYE worker can secure a significant block of seed capital to put into a business. We must simplify those schemes and get them to work.

I do not deny the emigration figures, which are there for all to see. Net migration last year was approximately 35,000 with Irish-born people to the fore. Clearly we have a problem. On the other hand, we have created 61,000 jobs and, therefore, more jobs are being created than people emigrating. There is a skills mix issue and that is why skills initiatives should be part of the response. The Deputy is correct about the younger age groups. There is a decline in this cohort of the labour force but that is not all explained by emigration. According to the population curve, the cohort is falling and there is a contraction. Both the numbers employed and unemployed are reducing. It is about more than just emigration; there is a contraction in the numbers in the younger age groups.

However, the numbers will increase because there is a bulge coming through in the school system. I do not say that as a defence of the migration numbers but there has been employment growth among younger age groups. This recession has been characterised by an atrocious impact on young people. By and large, people aged over 35 have not been impacted. This reflects last in, first out policies, a clampdown on recruitment and so on. It has had a massive impact on younger people. All the instruments aimed at young people such as training, ICT skills, Springboard and so on are crucial to confront the emigration issue and to get people skilled in the areas in which they can secure employment in a sustainable, growing economy. Even during the boom, 15,000 people emigrated annually and, therefore, the numbers emigrating will not reduce to zero. During the boom years, significant numbers chose to leave. People make their choice but a total of 35,000 emigrants is not acceptable and, therefore, we need to do better. Addressing the skills mix is the most effective tool we can use to target emigration.