Mr. David Hegarty:

Maybe I should have mentioned before what I am about to say. The White Paper, which contains the national enterprise policy, is complemented by several regional enterprise action plans. I will ask my colleague, Ms Hynes, to comment on them in a minute. They try to replicate national enterprise policy at regional level, including for the mid-west. We very much look to Pathways to Work to try to increase participation. I absolutely accept this is important but the policy in this area really lies with the Department of Social Protection. Obviously, there are also issues associated with the tax system that must be considered.

It is worth reminding ourselves that there has been a strong increase in participation, particularly by women and younger people, in the labour market after the pandemic. Unlike some countries, Ireland has a labour market that has performed very strongly. In particular, participation has increased among the groups I have mentioned. This may be partly to do with remote work, which Deputy Stanton was asking about. Ms Hynes will say something about the regional action plans.