Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The most important factors affecting jobs in my constituency are foreign direct investment, tourism, farming and the construction sector. These are affected by rates, broadband access, finance, infrastructure and so on. It is too early to know how many jobs the home renovation scheme has generated. The action plan stipulates issues about financing NAMA’s portfolio. Can anything be done about the hoarding of land? In certain areas there may be developers with an abundance of land, hoping for the market to pick up before they move on it. If some of that land could be released it would have a positive impact, particularly as prices rise.

Some 17,000 additional SMEs registered on the Government e-tenders website in 2013. That seems very high. How was that done? The Minister said that he hopes to make it easier for SMEs to win contracts. There has been some concern about the changes in public procurement. Has that had a negative impact on job numbers?

I welcome the commitments on rural broadband. I raised this in a submission to the Action Plan for Jobs 2014. One of the most important Bills that has come through the Oireachtas was the ESB (Electronic Communications Networks) Bill 2013, which received cross-party support and could be a wonderful initiative. I hope it progresses and that ESB finds a partner to roll out the project. Rural areas will continue to need State aid. I hope that will be provided and that changes will take place under State aid rules to enable that. In many areas, not far from Galway city and my constituency, people who want to work at home cannot do so because they have to drive to the local GAA club to pick up a signal to send off files. That is not acceptable when these people want to stay at home and do not want to increase traffic.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is opening a consulate in Austin, Texas. That region is top of the list for job growth in the United States, Dallas is second. Did the Department focus on Austin because of the Ireland House initiative, with collaboration between the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the consulates? Are the actions achieved in 2012 and 2013 followed up to ensure they continue and the various initiatives are not slackening off?

Are they being followed up to ensure there is no slackening off with various initiatives?  Some of them are simple and are not reversible but others require follow-up.