Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will not rest on our laurels and for that reason we have targeted incentives to meet emerging skills needs. Some 1,500 ICT skills conversion places have been provided to date. Furthermore, 63% of demand for high level IT professional is being met from the higher education system through the implementation of the ICT skills action plan. In 2011, the corresponding figure was 45% and we have set a target of reaching 75% by 2018. In addition, 15,000 Springboard places have been provided since 2011 in areas of identified high demand from enterprise. The 2014 round of the Springboard scheme, which will incorporate the ICT conversion programme, will be launched by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, in June.

Employer satisfaction with graduates is assessed through the national employer survey, the next round of which is due this year. According to the 2012 survey, 75% of employers are satisfied with the skills of Irish graduates.

This morning, I met Mr. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, who invited 200 Irish students to visit China to participate in a language summer camp. China is expanding its investment in Ireland and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, will shortly visit the country. I expect the Minister will also be in a position to announce the first round of investment under the China-Ireland technology group growth capital fund.

Having spoken this morning to representatives of some of the major financial institutions, it is clear that this sector, in which more than 35,000 people are employed, offers further opportunities. Those to whom I spoke noted a radical shift in Ireland in the recent period and pointed out that the quality of talent coming through the system is second to none. This is creating a ripple effect across Europe, with Dublin in particular holding a magnetic attraction for many young people because of the numbers of companies located here and the energy and creativity that flows from that.

While we have made significant progress on unemployment, the rate is still too high. Access to credit is a major issue and one which the Government seeks to address. Today, for example, we made a number of changes to the credit scheme introduced for small companies by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in his action plan. As I have noted on a number of occasions, it is not for Governments to say how many jobs they create. The Action Plan for Jobs is a mechanism, if one likes, for easing the way to enable jobs to be created. Of the 60,000 jobs created last year, 40,000 were in companies that are less than five years old. This is indicative of the change that is under way.

Many of those who participated in the Enterprise Ireland boot camp and presented in the United States seeking investment from venture capital will sell exclusively on the Internet and they will not be restricted by any requirement to have a physical shop or the timelines that apply in such circumstances. Sales methods and demand and supply are changing radically.

The Government regularly engages with the OECD because it has a brilliant range of expertise available to it and is able to respond to specific queries on the design of schemes for young people that are appropriate to Ireland's circumstances, as opposed to those of Italy or Portugal, for example. The OECD wishes to continue with this type of engagement, which is done on the basis of catering for the changes that will take place in 18 months or five years and the requirement to structure our needs accordingly.

These are some of the issues that were discussed. The issue of base erosion and product shifting, BEPS, was also discussed and the Government fully supports the position being taken.

See this speech in context