Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this important initiative. I begin by rebutting what I have heard from some Opposition speakers, although not all of them. They stated the latest action plan on jobs lacks credibility because it follows on from other measures. Their argument misses the point entirely. The Government has said consistently - the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, said so as recently as this week - that this plan is the latest instalment and builds on other difficult plans and actions of the Government to try to get this country back on the road to economic recovery. Most specifically, I refer to the Finance Bill, Second Stage of which has now been passed, the jobs initiative, considered earlier in the Government's term, the intensive and ongoing negotiation with our partners in Europe and the IMF and the very difficult decision to recapitalise our banks because every functioning economy needs a functioning banking sector.

This plan is the latest step. There is no magic bullet and the plan builds on what has been done to date. It is important that this debate is taking place when the Taoiseach is in the United States, for what I believe is the second time in five days. Just like a politician canvasses door to door during an election looking for votes, we need our Taoiseach and every apparatus of the State to canvass every potential investor across the globe. I applaud the Taoiseach for leading that effort. It is also important we instruct our embassies and all State agencies working around the world that this must be their focus too. Embassies must be more than just diplomacy and lavish functions but also become trade missions to bring about jobs and investment into Ireland.

One criticism I heard about this jobs plan is that it is overly ambitious. That is a badge that all Members on this side of the House will wear with pride. The country needs the Government to be overly ambitious. We have to set targets that one would not usually have to set in normal economic times. These are not normal economic times. The 400,000 plus people on the live register need the Government to be overly ambitious.

Many of the good initiatives in this plan are targeted. We saw in the jobs initiative how targeted measures work when they resulted in 6,000 extra employed in accommodation and food services, 3,000 extra in wholesale and retail and 20,000 extra in work placement and training places. Broad-brush approaches do not work.

The most exciting element about this jobs plan is that beside every one of the 270 specific measures is the name of the organisation accountable for delivering it. Deputy Calleary was correct that the success of this plan will not just be down to the Ministers, Deputies Bruton and Perry, and the Government. It is about every State agency accepting responsibility for the delivery of its target. It may be worthwhile examining Deputy Calleary's suggestion to have a committee of the House that can hold the agencies responsible to account. From my membership of the Committee of Public Accounts, I know the opportunity to hold people to account leaves little room for hiding.

In a plan with 270 measures not everything can be a big ticket item nor does it need to be. Many small changes can sometimes have a large impact in the day-to-day running of a business. The jobs plan singles out 15 key action areas which will be central to job promotion. Among these is the establishment of the one-stop shop to provide small and micro-enterprises with supports at local level.

I also welcome changes to the county enterprise board structure with which some Members disagree. We need a national consistency in the services provided by Enterprise Ireland. If we are talking about real local government reform, what local government system in any developed country does not have enterprise and job creation at its heart? There is room for great progress to be made in this area.

The changes to the public procurement process are to be welcomed. Allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to have a clearer path to accessing State contracts is welcome.

Chapter 6 is the most exciting in the plan because it addresses the issue of transposing the plan to local communities. If we want to get people off the live register, apart from doing what the Taoiseach is doing now in the United States, we need to empower the community leaders in all our constituencies. In Bray, County Wicklow, people got together from the local council and the Chamber of Commerce to set up a Bray economic think-thank which is actually creating jobs using similar suggestions from this plan. I know the Minister of State enjoys being on the road and meeting with businesses. I hope he will take this plan to communities, bring it to life and explain to people how the plan's recommendations and actions can make a difference in every town and village.

Debates such as this and some degree of an oversight committee are central to ensuring this plan progresses.

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