Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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It is difficult to have the Minister before the committee to address the first quarterly figures without acknowledging the success in terms of the employment and unemployment figures. The figure was almost 2.6 million in 2011. As I said when the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, was before the committee a number of weeks ago, I remember during the election in 2011 - Senator Lombard will also remember this - canvassing for the Minister, Deputy Coveney in Cork. Then, we were talking about creating 100,000 jobs over five years. In the space of 12 years, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has created 800,000 jobs in this country. It is a phenomenal achievement and it needs to be recognised.

There are certain areas in which we can do better. One of those is the area of people with disabilities in the workforce. We have the lowest percentage in Europe of people with disabilities in the workforce. We have just over 30%, whereas most of our European partners are in the low to mid-50s. It is about what we can do and what the Department’s role is in encouraging businesses to take on people with disabilities long term. I have done a bit of work with the national learning network, and there are many connections between it and businesses to encourage people into the workplace. However, it is about continuing that beyond the work of the national learning network. What can we do there?

The Minister announced yesterday that he is developing a national wind strategy for offshore wind. Could he expand on that? I know he is looking at 80% of our electricity being made up of renewable energy by 2030. Could he expand on what was announced yesterday?

On energy and the challenges for businesses, I recently asked the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about supports for energy grants for businesses. There is a small one at the moment, which is for €900 up to 2 kW. I said at the time that that would not boil the kettle. We have done an awful lot for homeowners and for farmers to support them to change their ways regarding renewable energy. However, we have not really done too much for businesses. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, indicated that a scheme will come forward later this year. My request is for the Minister's Department to emphasise the importance of retrospectively supporting businesses which have already made changes since the cost of living prices and energy prices have increased. My suggestion is to go back to the date of the start of temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, which was in September. A certain number of energy companies have spent an awful lot of money on solar panels and on changing their supply of energy without getting any sort of support from the Government.

If something is brought in later this year, I would like it recognised that when we brought in TBESS, which was a recognition of high energy costs, that we would also retrospectively look back at businesses that changed their ways of energy at that time.