Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Job creation is central to Ireland's economic recovery. The programme for Government has this target at its core. I note the recent jobs announcements by Paddy Power and the Kerry Group which highlight the important role of indigenous companies in the country's economic recovery. Paddy Power and the Kerry Group could have taken their good tidings elsewhere. They are publicly traded companies and both are listed on the Stock Exchange. Their loyalties are to their shareholders rather than to the country but both chose Ireland.

The Government is absolutely focused on ensuring Irish companies are supported in every way to develop their business, increase exports, create jobs and ultimately to rebuild the economy. The first progress report on the action plan, published by the Government in April, showed that 80 of the 83 measures due for delivery across the whole of government in the first quarter of 2012 had been implemented. The Succeed in Ireland initiative, aimed at delivering at least 5,000 jobs in five years, was launched. Enterprise Ireland also established a new division for potential exporters, targeting some 1,800 firms. The new €150 million development capital scheme, aimed at addressing a funding gap for mid­sized high growth companies, was also launched. A global second call was issued under Innovation Fund Ireland, worth more than €60 million, to target investment in high growth technology companies. A total of €20 million was allocated to a new education and training fund. Other measures delivered include the extension and simplification of the employer's PRSI exemption scheme and the enactment of the Finance Bill, giving effect to several pro-jobs measures.

By far, the most talked about problem facing small business in recent years is the lack of adequate credit facilities. We all know that access to finance is a key issue for small businesses and critical to long-term economic success. The microfinance loan fund has been designed to stimulate lending to sustainable micro-enterprises and is targeted at start-up, newly established or growing micro-enterprises across all industry sectors, employing not more than ten people. It will provide loans of up to €25,000 for commercially viable proposals that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by commercial banks.

Positioned in between the United States and Europe's mainland, Dublin is growing into a business hub and was ranked recently by Forbesmagazine as one of the six best global cities regarded as hotbeds for start-up businesses and innovation. Dublin has also been recognised as the top western city in the Global Services top 100 outsourcing cities list. Banking on its surging opportunities, many big businesses have established their headquarters here. The Silicon docks area houses business giants such as Google, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012has ranked Ireland first for the availability of skilled labour. We have a rich pool of niche, specialist talent, especially in areas in which cost is not the only consideration. Testing, application development and the life sciences are key areas. Both Galway and Leixlip are centres of excellence within HP and Irish-based engineers are increasingly developing new leading edge capabilities servicing the needs of clients in the USA, China, India, Europe and Asia. We are well on the way to establishing Ireland as one of the cloud computing capitals of the world. Seven of the world's top ten cloud data centre operators are already in Ireland, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Last week Europe's largest tech conference was held in the RDS in Dublin.

As we mark the 25th anniversary of the IFSC, there is a renewed focus by the Government and all stakeholders on the international financial services industry in Ireland. In July 2011 the Government published its strategy for the international financial services industry which serves as a road map for targeting growth opportunities in order to support the wider economy.

See this speech in context