Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her comments. It would be unfair to take the figures for one quarter as a guide for the year. In the past 12 months 61,000 new jobs were confirmed as having been created through the private sector. The growth rate for the year is expected to be 1.7% or 1.8%. I admit that the figures for the last quarter were not as strong as for previous quarters. However, we have had eight consecutive quarters, 24 consecutive months, with a fall in the numbers on the live register, which is pointing in the right direction.

The Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, signed the contract for the section of motorway from Gort to Tuam. I know that one of the major contractors is bringing back some 40 Irish engineers from Australia to work on these projects. The Government's stimulus package for school project bundles, Grangegorman and other infrastructure developments is important. There is also the employment aspect of Irish Water in terms of the installation of meters and infrastructure. These all represent opportunities to grow from where we are, having lost 300,000 jobs in the three years prior to 2011.

The medium-term strategy that I mentioned points out that we want to create 100,000 net new jobs by 2016 and have all those jobs lost restored by 2020. That is why the Government has introduced a particular strategy for the construction sector. We need to introduce new planning legislation to give effect to elements of it. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, announced in the €100 million allocation for social housing the elements to deal with homelessness, including the refitting of 2,700 units that have been empty and boarded up for some time. These are all opportunities not only to provide a social response but also employment.

The line of investment into the country is very strong. The focus this year is on the construction sector, services and retail. There is a big Government emphasis on credit for small business and access by small business to opportunities to expand and increase employment. That is why all of the local enterprise offices have been opened within each local authority area, with specific information, assistance and expertise for entrepreneurs. That is why there is a major drive to ensure young people in secondary school and college have an understanding of how easy it is to form a company and create opportunities to engage in business.

Legislation relating to financial assistance from the German state bank, KfW, which was offered last year, is currently going through. This will form part of the strategic investment programme, the level of funding available under which will rise to €4 billion. Most of this is for small businesses and it will be allocated under specific conditions. This is an area which is extremely important in the context of the economy and the creation of jobs into the future. As such, it is a central focus of the Government.

In the context of forthcoming Cabinet meetings, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, will respond in respect of how that construction strategy is being followed through. It is a major primer in terms of employment numbers and in the context of levels of expenditure and confidence throughout the economy. The signs are in many locations throughout the country that this strategy is moving us very strongly in the right direction. I admit that there are still too many people who are unemployed and that difficulties remain in respect of access to credit, a matter with which we are dealing. We must leverage more in the context of what we know we can obtain. The construction, services and retail sectors are the focus of Government this year. We are aware that matters have been very sensitive in the case of retail and that a sufficient contribution has not been made in the case of construction.

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