Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister has said, the Government must create a set of conditions that facilitate growth in employment rates. I am not aware of any Government having set an employment rate target. I am not aware of a precedent for that.

The Deputy referred to the National Pensions Reserve Fund, NPRF. It will be used to support the SME sector and provide equity, credit and recovery investment. The NPRF will provide up to €850 million on a commercial basis with a view to leveraging private sector funding into the Irish investment market. The Government is creating conditions such as a 25% increase in the threshold for VAT cash receipts basis accounting to improve cash flow for SMEs. It is doubling the amount of expenditure that qualifies for the research and development tax credit for SMEs so that we can support more innovation by businesses. That will have a positive impact on foreign direct investment. It is extending the foreign earnings deduction scheme to support exporting companies to develop a presence in new key markets.

The economic transition is not solely about the volume of Exchequer resources aimed at the enterprise sector. We must give equal importance to the reforms that will result from instigating a range of measures to enhance our competitiveness, improve the environment for business and create the jobs that are so necessary.

There are IDA and Enterprise Ireland targets. Because of the constraints of time here in the House I would be happy to talk to the Deputy about those targets. He is welcome to come to the Department for a briefing any time.

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