Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

From the very establishment of the Government and before in the discussions on a programme for Government, Fine Gael and the Labour Party were absolutely clear that the primary objective of the Government was economic recovery. A core part of that and the primary issue for Government was the creation of jobs. The Government accepts fully the point made by Deputy John Halligan that the impact of joblessness is huge on the mental, physical and economic well-being of our people and on the structure of our society. That is why jobs have been at the heart of everything we have tried to do from the moment of the establishment of the Government. Within 100 days of taking office, we established the first jobs initiative and set out our strategy to repair the economy and create an environment for investment. We have had some significant successes to date but there is no doubt that there is a ways to go. We have the strategy to address the issues and I can lay out to the House in some detail what action has been taken.

Our first act was to abandon the failed strategy of our predecessor Government which sought to build an economy on property, banking and debt. We have sought to move to an economy based on enterprise, exports and innovation, the strategy which led to recovery at the end of the 1990s. The level of unemployment is wholly unacceptable which is why the Government is determined to work might and main to address the problem. We have moved in the right direction. The IDA reported 12,000 net new jobs in the last two years while Enterprise Ireland reported 3,804 in 2012. In 2011, Irish exports reached the highest level ever at €173 billion, exceeding the level of exports during the boom years. In the years 2008 to 2010, we lost 40,000 jobs in the export sector but in 2011, we gained an additional 10,000. As I said when referring to Fáilte Ireland, we have recently seen the first significant rise in employment in the tourism sector since 2008.

The strategies are working and we have a way to go. We are very aware that this is our number one priority which is why we have a special Cabinet meeting devoted to this where every Minister will make a series of proposals that will be drawn together this afternoon.

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