Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has stood where I am standing today and knows I will not be drawn on the budgetary process. Let me talk, however, about the EU Presidency. One of the central themes of the Irish EU Presidency will be job creation. There will be statements on Ireland's position on getting Europe to engage on this agenda in due course. The planning is ongoing and this week there was a Cabinet sub-committee on European Affairs where each of the Ministers and Ministers of State involved had an opportunity to discuss the EU Presidency and the core themes we want to ensure are at the forefront. Job creation and growth with the European economy will form part of that.

I take the Deputy's point on the public utterances of Ben Bernanke on the US Federal Reserve. There is a different dynamic in the US because it operates on a federal basis. There is a challenge for a member state like Ireland to ensure greater EU co-ordination but it is the Government's view that the role of job creation must be to the forefront of the Irish Presidency.

Horizon 2020 is a major pot of money, around €80 billion, that must be negotiated, along with the multiannual financial framework. There are many Irish companies that will ultimately benefit from that once it is negotiated. It will do more to inject further capital into the research and development arms of Irish companies and SMEs in particular to create those jobs that we want in the economy. There is much to be done on the macroeconomic side. I reiterate, however, that the action plan for jobs is a clear policy statement by the Government that involves all of the stakeholders, including small business, IBEC and so on. That will be a key driver for job creation in the future.

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