John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The objective of the Government is very clear in the actions of the Minister and his team, which have been very effective. For the first time since 2008, 20,500 jobs have been created in a single quarter, net of public sector reductions. Some 1.8 million people are at work. Exports from companies supported by Enterprise Ireland are worth €16 billion. This is worth €30 billion to the economy, €14 billion to the domestic economy and €19 billion in GDP. Jobs are being created every day, but many of them require specialised skills. This week I met representatives of a company which has been forced to recruit people from other jurisdictions because of the lack of a skills base here among domestic workers. People from eastern Europe are being recruited to do a specific job, for which particular qualifications or experience are required. One only has to look at the job vacancies in newspapers to see that a major upskilling effort is required, a task which is being met by the third level colleges. We are focusing on this through collaboration with the universities and the institutes of technology.

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