Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The line of investment into the country from outside is a signal of confidence in our people and in our country on the part of decision-makers abroad. I am sure the Deputy heard the chief executive of the Industrial Development Authority talking this morning about the great clusters of world leaders in industry now in the country, be they in software, IT or whatever. The reason they are here is their belief and confidence in our workforce, the ease of doing business here, the productivity, the targets set and the capacity of the Irish workforce to measure up to whatever the challenge may be. That is evident throughout the country. The next wave of investment will come from small and medium enterprises in order to deal with the demands and requirements of many of these companies. That is why the focus of the Government has been to strengthen the business model for small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises. It is why the jobs action plan was published in February, with 270 proposals. The first quarterly report showed a significant fulfilment of the proposals. It is why the Government published legislation dealing with the partial loan credit guarantee scheme so that small companies can access credit from the banks, each of which has guaranteed over €3 billion of new lending this year. It is why the Government wants to move on with the micro-finance agency, which can leverage €100 million for very small operators. Following the decisions on VAT and PRSI, particularly in the hospitality sector, 11,000 new jobs have been created in the food and agriculture sector. There was no increase in income tax and taxes on jobs so that we can unleash the potential of small business operators. That will apply in Donegal as well as Wexford and County Louth as well as County Cork.

I do not accept the premise of Deputy Pringle that the Government is not focusing on the sector. It is, which is why JobBridge and Pathways to Work have brought about significant improvements in well-qualified people taking up employment through JobBridge. The Pathways to Work scheme is proving exceptionally beneficial for those who unfortunately found themselves out of work. The change is coming in the Department of Social Protection, where people who lose a job will be offered opportunities for retraining, upskilling and a change of direction in their career. I recently visited the Google headquarters and spoke to some of the 1,000 engineers there. The average length of time people have a job in a company like that is four years following which they change direction. We must deal with the future which being created. The emphasis of Government will be to continue to roll out its jobs action programme for those companies so that the news can be, from Dunlewey to Bundoran, that new places are being opened and that two or three new people are being recruited on a regular basis. I understand the scale of emigration and what it means but it is important not to lose hope and confidence. Government decisions in this area help the environment. From my perspective, I want to be able to prove by 2016 that we are the best small country in the world in which to do business.

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