Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The action plan for jobs has the objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period to 2016, with a longer-term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020. The action plan does not pretend to be an instant solution to the scale of the unemployment problems we are facing. It is, rather, about addressing the fundamental requirements to enable businesses to start-up and grow. It is about grinding out reforms to our policies, structures and systems, one by one, to put in place the environment where jobs can be created and, most importantly, sustained in the long term.

In this context, trends in employment over the next few quarters cannot be the definitive verdict on the action plan. The plan will be judged by the successful implementation of reforms, the monitoring of their impact, the development of further actions in 2013 and beyond and the employment trends over the horizon of the plan to 2016.

We recognise that 2012 is going to be a difficult year due to the downgrade of forecasts in many of our export markets. Clearly, trends in global economics will have an effect on our trade and investment ambitions but we are trying as far as possible to be masters of our own destiny through the action plan for jobs.

The Government recognises that many problems in our economy must be fixed in order to put enterprise in the position to expand output, win new markets and employ more people. We are targeting sectors of the economy that can grow and we will work with employers and business representatives to identify what we can do better to maximise job creation.

This action plan differs from reports published by previous Governments, which failed to deliver due to the lack of determination on the part of Ministers to follow through on implementation. It is not a strategy document but a series of actions we have committed to delivering and is supported by detailed tables that identify the key steps to be taken each quarter and the people or agency responsible for delivering the intended outcome. These tables have been published and progress on the deliverables is being overseen by a monitoring committee comprising senior officials from the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, my Department and Forfás.

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