Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Job creation is a key priority for the Government. Action Plan for Jobs has set the objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 jobs by 2016 and making Ireland the best small country in which to do business. The 2013 action plan for jobs will set out detailed targets for important measures of economic transition and for the delivery of policy actions to support employment, enterprise, innovation and exports. It will include indicators such as job creation in agency supported enterprises, the number of high potential start-ups to be supported in 2013, the target for new foreign direct investment projects and the number of significant investments by Enterprise Ireland-assisted firms in a range of areas, which are critical to company growth and job creation.

Considerable resources are being committed to the task. Our Department's Exchequer capital allocation for 2013, including carryover of unspent moneys from 2012, amounts to €483 million gross. At a time of severe restraint in capital resources, this demonstrates the Government's commitment to enterprise development and jobs.

We have also developed innovative instruments to leverage up the impact of this capital expenditure to support job creation through our Department and its agencies. These include the provision of €175 million in Exchequer funding through the seed and venture capital scheme. This funding has a target to leverage €525 million in line with past experience. An additional Exchequer allocation of €25 million is being provided under the development capital scheme in 2013, targeted at mid-sized indigenous firms. The Government committed €50 million to the scheme in 2012 and this funding will leverage up to €225 million. The Department will also continue to roll out and monitor the €90 million microfinance fund and the €450 million credit guarantee scheme, which again leverage smaller Exchequer outlays.

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In a similar vein, the National Pensions Reserve Fund, NPRF has developed a range of support funds for the SME sector to provide equity, credit and recovery investment. The NPRF will invest between €350 million and €500 million with a view to creating a total funding pool of at least €850 million for investment in SMEs. In addition, a new package of tax measures to support SMEs was outlined by the Minister for Finance in budget 2013. It is important, however, to recognise that the economic transition is not solely about the volume of Exchequer resources aimed at the enterprise sector. Equally important in the 2013 action plan for jobs will be the reforms which we are continuing to implement on an ongoing basis to enhance our competitiveness, improve the environment for business, support enterprises, and progress sectoral strategies. The 2013 plan will be published in the coming weeks, following approval by Government.

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