Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Deputy knows that the Government has set a series of targets of 270 actions to be taken this year to deliver a transformation in our economy. As I said in my reply, many systems are seriously broken. The banking system is not performing to a standard and as a result we have had to introduce numerous measures to support business in getting access to finance. This includes the microfinance initiative, the loan guarantee scheme and the development capital scheme. These are all designed to plug gaps in a system that is not serving business sufficiently. We recognise the need to rebuild our export base and through Enterprise Ireland this is beginning to happen. There was a exceptional 14% growth in exports last year. We have established a first-time exporters division to encourage more exporters.

Any level of unemployment is disappointing but the Deputy needs to consider what is happening in the area of employment creation. The IDA has had its best year in a decade in employment terms, with new jobs created and a lower rate of job loss. Enterprise Ireland has stabilised the numbers in employment after several years of massive job losses. Enterprise Ireland is showing growth in its employment base in the first three months of this year.

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