Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I asked what were the Minister's targets for job creation and the unemployment rate this year.

Despite the wonderful amount of information the Minister of State gave the House, neither of those two questions were addressed.

The Government objective was not to create 100,000 jobs by 2016. It was to create 100,000 additional jobs by 2016. At present, 335,000 people are unemployed, of whom 60% have been unemployed for 12 months or more. Since the Government came to power there have been 20,000 net job losses. The Government already faces an uphill battle if it is to create 120,000 jobs by 2016.

The IDA and Enterprise Ireland did good work last year. Sinn Féin welcomes every single job created by a Government initiative. Let us look, however, at the size of the problem. One job was created for every 34 people unemployed. The Government has solved 3% of the unemployment situation in the last year. According to the Nevin Institute, to achieve net job increases the economy must grow by 2% or more. I see no forecast of a 2% increase in growth.

Every business in the State operates its business by identifying targets for growth, turnover and profit. Why will the Government not do the same?

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