Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the three years before the Government came into office, more than 300,000 jobs had been lost across the economy. The construction, retail and tourism sectors were particularly badly hit and collectively accounted for over two thirds of the jobs losses. Almost 150,000 jobs were lost in the construction sector alone between the beginning of 2008 and the beginning of 2011.

In 2012, the Government introduced the Action Plan for Jobs as the main policy instrument to tackle the employment crisis and to assist job creation. Now in its third annual iteration, the action plan has set about transforming the operating environment for businesses by seeking to identify and remove barriers to competitiveness and by placing employment on the agenda of every Department. The latest employment figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that there was an increase of 42,700 people in employment in the first quarter of 2014, compared to the first quarter of 2013. There was an increase of 63,200 in the numbers in employment in the last two years. These figures are net of reductions in public sector numbers. More than 67% of the jobs created since 2012 have been full time. In the last six months, almost all the jobs created in the economy were full time. The sectors that have consistently performed well are agriculture, food and fishing, accommodation and food services, tourism and professional, scientific and technical activities. These sectors have been the focus for attention under the Action Plan for Jobs.

In 2013, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland client companies had record years for employment creation, generating a total of 12,500 net new jobs in export-focused activities. These patterns suggest the jobs being created are adding value to the economy and have every potential to be sustainable. However, we must continue to focus on sectors that did not experience a jobs recovery over the past two years. The wholesale and retail sector, which we discussed earlier, continues to suffer job losses, while the pattern is similar in the construction sector. There are moves to intervene in both sectors.

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