Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I am preparing a jobs strategy for the Government that will set out a series of clear, actionable measures to support the creation and retention of jobs. The strategy will focus on areas such as improving competitiveness and intensifying competition in the sheltered sectors, assisting indigenous business to grow, supporting indigenous start-ups, attracting inward entrepreneurial start-ups, developing and deepening the impact of foreign direct investment, exploiting opportunities in new and emerging sectors and supporting employment initiatives within the community.

In preparing the strategy I have consulted a wide range of stakeholders from the public, private and community sectors to obtain their views on actions to support employment creation. I have received more than 600 individual ideas through this process. My Department and Forfás, in consultation with officials in other Departments, have been analysing the proposals to identify those which are likely to have the greatest impact on job creation and retention.

The jobs initiative announced last May represented a series of early actions on the part of the Government to restore confidence in the economy, stimulate demand and assist those seeking to work. The jobs strategy, by contrast, will present a medium to long-term vision of where Ireland can maximise employment opportunities in areas where it has traditional strengths such as tourism and agrifoods, as well as in new and emerging sectors such as cloud computing, health and the life sciences, silvertech and the green economy. Some of the actions in the jobs strategy will be delivered in the short term and have an immediate impact, while others will be delivered in a longer timeframe.

The objective is to publish the jobs strategy early in the new year. The actions contained in it will assist all enterprises across all sectors to protect and create jobs. It also will include specific actions for key sectors, including the retail sector.

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