Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Sometimes people use general and simplistic catchphrases such as "manufacturing in decline". Due to the high capitalisation and more specialised nature of manufacturing, it is a changing story but, between 2000 and 2006, manufacturing output increased by 35%. We are performing well in this sector but the same numbers will not be employed as ten years ago due to the nature of the change. Manufacturing employment has reduced from 16% to 11% over the past ten years but the key issue is how the sector is performing in terms of output, longevity and so on.

I accept in the broader employment context, the number on the live register has increased but we were anything but on autopilot. Inner anxiety has defined us over the past number of years because our economic success is recent and unprecedented. We are, therefore, not sitting on our laurels complacently. We are endeavouring to put in place the policy platforms that will enable us to compete for and retain jobs into the future. That means implementing the science, technology and innovation strategy, which my Department co-ordinated with eight other Departments and which was generously funded by the Department of Finance in the Estimates to the tune of €8 billion over the next six years, because we want investment in science and research to underpin jobs and to show the world Ireland will discover new products and services and ways to doing things. That is our future. We cannot compete for low cost, low skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector.

We are active in the services sector, which has contributed significantly to jobs growth over the past decade. We are close to finalising a strategic approach to maximising the number of jobs and the value we can achieve through services over the next number of years. The Deputy correctly mentioned the skills issue. FÁS has a very good approach to intervening in circumstances where redundancies occur and matching people with new job opportunities, training and programmes that facilitate the reorientation of workers in new jobs and that will continue. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland monitor their client companies, particularly those that may be in difficulty. However, ultimately, a company's corporate headquarters far removed from Ireland determines its decision-making, the timing of its decision and the degree to which it will inform us about its plans based on global issues

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