Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, together.

The programme for national recovery, which was published in 2011, is a five-year plan that sets out the Government's detailed and ambitious work programme to restore the country’s finances by building on a platform of strong economic management, job creation and a comprehensive reform agenda. Much has been achieved since then. Ireland successfully exited the bailout programme in December 2013. The Irish economy has returned to sustainable growth. Some 80,000 new jobs have been created since the first jobs action plan. Unemployment continues to fall and is now at its lowest rate since 2009. The number of homeowners in mortgage arrears is falling. More than 89,000 permanent restructures have been achieved. The Government has set out a range of measures under the Construction 2020 strategy to get the property market moving, to generate building activity and to increase supply, thereby easing the pressure on those in negative equity. A major programme of public service reform has delivered significant pay savings, increased working hours, increased efficiencies through use of shared services and centralised procurement. A new Civil Service renewal plan has been launched. The significant reform in how services are delivered has already seen the streamlining of local government structures, the establishment of a new Court of Appeal to reduce waiting periods for complex cases and the overhaul of bankruptcy legislation.

Last July, the Government published its statement of priorities for the period from 2014 to 2016, which sets out the key priorities that will continue to drive forward the agenda for the economic and social recovery of Ireland. These additional actions, building on the commitments in the programme for Government, will ensure the recovery translates into meaningful and positive change that affects the lives of people and communities. In March of each year, the Government publishes an annual report in which it sets out the progress it has made in implementing the commitments made in the programme for Government. It has published three reports to date, reporting progress on 80% of those commitments. Work is under way on the fourth report. This will incorporate the progress made on the additional commitments set out in the new statement of the Government's priorities. As in other years, this report will be published in March. As a Government, we have and will continue to work hard to implement the commitments in the programme for Government to ensure Ireland remains firmly on the path to full recovery in the time ahead.

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