Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Since the beginning of this crisis the resilience of the Irish people has been truly remarkable considering what we have been through in recent years. We have seen the total collapse of our financial services, construction industry and massive budget adjustments, yet in the midst of all that we have managed to start to get control of public spending and there is still growth in the economy. That is truly commendable and I compliment the people of this country for what they have done. That is not to say there are not still massive outstanding problems the Government must deal with urgently. The mortgage arrears situation is a particularly urgent issue that must be taken on board at Government level and dealt with comprehensively because it remains a serious problem. The jobs situation is also important and requires attention. However, slowly but surely we are getting a handle on it.

There is a saying, from little acorns great oak trees grow. We must examine some of the measures introduced by the Government in recent years to bring about a recovery. On reading the reports and commentary from the media one would think the country is still in an awfully severe crisis and that there is no hope of recovery. It is interesting to learn that we have created 12,000 new jobs in the private sector in this country in the past year. I accept that we lost 250,000 jobs in the three years prior to the Government coming to power. We have a significant recovery to make but one must bear that statistic in mind. There is a reduction in the number of people on the live register.

It is a small decrease but it has been falling for the past seven months and that must be taken into account.

One of the most important actions the Government took to give people confidence to seek a job and return to work was the reversal of the minimum wage cut, which was one of the first moves made by the Government, and increasing the universal social charge exemption level from €4,000 to €10,000. That removed the 330,000 lowest paid people in the workforce from being liable to the universal social contribution charge. Those were positive measures and, while small, there is a need to highlight them to ensure people understand what is happening.

In terms of from where all these jobs are coming, they are coming both from foreign direct investment and our indigenous companies that are working hard, not only the small and medium enterprises but some of our bigger companies also. Initiatives are happening. PayPal, Eli Lilly, Cisco, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Abbott Pharmaceuticals are internationally recognised companies that are instantly recognised by most people in this country. All of those are investing in Ireland.

The Kerry Group, one of our indigenous multinational companies which has businesses across the world, is making a massive commitment to and investment in the country. That is because confidence that our economy is on the right track and that we are doing something right is being restored. International investment sentiment towards this country is improving. It may not be percolating down and it may not be recognised by everybody, but stability is coming into this country slowly but surely. The Government has been focusing on trying to get people back to work.

In normal international circumstances an economy must stabilise and start seeing growth before significant reductions in unemployment numbers can be achieved. We cannot wait that long, and that is the reason the Government is focused on examining different areas with a view to promoting employment within the different sectors. Many of the policies have been targeting that. Not all of those policies will work but at least the Government is trying to make things work.

The Pathways to Work strategy is targeting long-term unemployment. Some 5,500 places have already been filled on the new national internship scheme. An additional 15,000 places have been provided for further education and training programmes. A new ICT education strategy has been launched with the objective of doubling the annual output of ICT graduates from 1,000 to 2,000 by 2018. These programmes have very targeted and focused positions to get people into employment.

The VAT reduction on tourism related services has seen an increase in the number of tourists and more jobs are being created in the tourism sector. This sector has been identified as having potential for growth if we target our resources at it and it is making a return. Some people might try to knock that and say it might have happened anyway but it has happened. The Government is looking at such areas where it can invest our very scarce resources to see if we can get a maximum return on such investment.

The new support programme for home energy retrofitting has the potential to create 2,000 jobs across the country. It may be a small beginning but it will make an impact for those 2,000 people who will be able to go back to work and gain from the benefits that will make to their lifestyle.

We will continue to establish Ireland as a digital hub with new jobs and investment announcements for new and established companies in that sector. Twitter, Google, PayPal and Dropbox are all names which are instantly recognisable to the text savvy younger and older generations of this country. Everybody knows those organisations. Those massive global companies with huge potential for growth are establishing themselves in Ireland.

A major new school building initiative is being launched which will create an estimated 15,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs in the coming years but, more importantly, it will provide 80,000 school places to cater for the increase in the school population. These are important initiatives spread across the country and they will make an impact.

The partial credit guarantee scheme has been launched to assist small and medium-sized businesses and there is also the separate microfinance fund. In terms of the impact of all these measures on a macro level, and I would move away from talking about billions because people do not quite grasp the scale of those figures, the deposits held in Irish banks have increased to €155 billion, which is up €15 billion from the lowest point that was reached in July 2011 of €140 billion. That represents small increases and improvements but it shows that small changes are taking place which are positive ones in the right direction. We should be very supportive of these changes.

People have spoken about how the Government is trying to be as fair as possible in seeking to protect the vulnerable and the sick. There are things that are being done that should be highlighted and commended. The increase in mortgage interest relief to 30% for first-time buyers between 2004 and 2008 is helping that cohort of people who are the most vulnerable to negative equity and to mortgage arrears because they paid the highest price for their houses. They are usually young people and have also been vulnerable to job losses since our economy crashed. We have provided €67 million in 2012 in grants to improve or adapt private homes of older people and people with a disability. That is significant in light of where we are at this moment in time. These are the small issues with which the Government has been dealing, which have made a significant impact on people's lives, have helped to get this country working again and have helped to ease the financial pain and the shock of austerity on those who are most vulnerable in our society.

I am delighted that the Government announced the public private partnership infrastructure stimulus programme which is focused on delivering a maximum number of jobs and the best infrastructure to help our people. It will deliver new schools across the country, health centres and new Garda stations. The ones that I am aware of did not add that much to the communities.

There is a need for us to be more realistic about what we can achieve with our resources and not to think that we should hold back progress. If we were to work on the basis of the theories of some of the Opposition Members, our gardaÍ would still be going around on bicycles. We have to constantly change and innovate how we do everything. That applies to the health service and education. The school education curriculum changing and Garda policing is changing. Everything changes in society and we need to change with it. There is a need for some Opposition members to be more open and broad-minded about what the Government is doing.

There will be huge changes to infrastructure. I am glad that the PPP programme announced today will kick-start the construction of major roadways in the country and not just provide the necessary jobs but improve our infrastructure to ensure we can remain competitive and increase the number of jobs created from foreign direct investment and in SMEs. I have pointed to the massive increase in jobs in the private sector.

I hope that the discussions on extending the Croke Park agreement will deliver. There is a very serious issue in that regard. The days of just giving money to get us out of our problems are over. If these talks were to fail, there is a serious threat that public sector pay might be cut in the future. I hope that does not happen. There is huge potential for the Croke Park deal to be extended and to continue delivering on piecemeal but important changes that have happened so far. I would like to see this being worked out and implemented.

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