Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is aware we are preparing a budget for next week. All of these issues are being considered with some degree of detail as to how we can, on the one hand, provide the necessary changes in public finances to ensure we arrest the rate of increase in public expenditure seen in recent years in different economic circumstances and, on the other hand, provide a means by which we can in the coming years ensure we address the imbalance currently taking place.

It is a question of trying to ensure we provide a means by which the country can continue to provide more investment and employment. As the Deputy pointed out, this is taking place in a more difficult economic environment, in which there have been 70,000 job losses in the past 12 months compared to more than 640,000 created in the past ten years.

We must put measures in place to ensure that those who become unemployed are given effective employment services and training supports to assist their return to employment as soon as possible. We are acting to help newly redundant workers. They are now being referred immediately to FÁS instead of waiting for three months on the live register, as was the case previously. FÁS will be providing a range of certified, short, flexible programmes designed to upskill redundant workers. A number of programmes are already in place, the frequency and range of which will be expanded during the coming months. Through various agencies, we will continue the training and upskilling of the workforce in line with the national skills strategy. We must acknowledge the substantial support given to community employment schemes, which give people employment experience and assist in their return to the open labour market. These are positives in dealing with the immediate reality for those who become unemployed.

There is also a need to examine inward investment. Last month, the CEO of IDA Ireland told the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment how inward investment is ahead of where it was in September 2007 despite the difficulties we are facing. Equally, indigenous industry is ahead. Despite the difficult background against which we are operating, there are proactive measures in terms of employment supports and wider enterprise support policies to try to maximise opportunities for employment as they arise.

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