Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The unemployment rate has dropped from 14.5% to 13.8%. After the Order of Business today I am going to Naas to turn the sod on a €100 million investment by the Kerry Group which will create thousands of jobs in the coming years in a world-class food innovation centre. This is part of the programme for the agrifood sector which is worth over €9 billion currently. In addition, NexusUCD will employ over 300 highly paid researchers in dealing with the world of enterprise and academia. Therefore, it is not a case of despair and despondency at all times, as suggested by the Deputy. Of course, everybody understands the challenge for the Government is to deal with the scale of unemployment and the high numbers on the live register, but it must also open the doors of opportunity for business, to enable access to credit and jobs to be created. That is the challenge for everybody, but in her comments today the Deputy does not make any real proposal, other than the usual waffle which suggests this problem could be fixed with a magic wand which we do not have. However, the Government is setting out on a path balanced between dealing with the necessity for discipline to get our targets below 3% by 2015 and the creation of jobs. That is the reason the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform introduced two stimulus packages, most recently for 28 additional schools in the capital programme, creating jobs on the ground. These projects involve small contractors, which means people working, confidence and a spend in the local economy. The Deputy may not wish to see this, but it is the reality and we need more of this. I hope next week's Cabinet meeting on job creation will focus on a number of areas, including the construction sector. We hope to be able to create that extra stimulus whereby jobs can be created for men and women all over the country.

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