Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Today's meeting will take place in two sessions. The first will deal with the forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, EPSCO. The second session will involve a discussion of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, including an update on the recommendations contained in the following committee reports published in 2013: Creating Policies that Work - Actions to Address Youth and Long-Term Employment; Exploring a New Approach to Providing Mentor Services for the Small and Medium Enterprise, SME, Sector in Ireland; and the South East Economic Development Strategy, Plant the SEEDS - Grow the Economy. We will also discuss the budget allocations for 2014 and how they will be spent, as well as the effect of the recruitment moratorium on Enterprise Ireland's activities.

I welcome the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and his officials, Mr. Paul Cullen and Mr. Dermot Sheridan. The officials will be involved in the first session only. I invite the Minister to make his representation on the forthcoming EPSCO meeting.