Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he is taking to tackle long-term unemployment; and the way in which he will assess the success of these steps. [41601/12]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation following figures in the most recent quarterly national household survey, his views on whether the jobs plan is successful in tackling long term unemployment; the new and additional steps he will take to tackle long term unemployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41646/12]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the increase in long term unemployment since taking office. [41602/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 49 , 55 and 62 together. In the three years prior to taking office, over 300,000 jobs were lost. The collapse of the property bubble brought our banking system to a point of collapse and employment in the construction sector fell by 60%. The surge in unemployment is the direct consequence of these failed policies. A huge task of economic transformation is necessary to reverse these trends and get employment growing.

There are two major elements to the Government’s response to unemployment – Pathways to Work and the action plan for jobs. The aim of the action plan for jobs is to create a supportive environment for enterprise to create and sustain new jobs. We have set an ambitious but realistic target of creating 100,000 jobs by 2016.

The aim of Pathways to Work is ensure that as many opportunities as possible go to people who are currently on the live register, particularly those who are long-term unemployed. It has an objective of ensuring that at least 75,000 of those currently long-term unemployed will move into employment by 2015. It also aims to reduce the average time spent on the live register from 21 months to less than 12 months by the end of 2015.

The establishment of the new integrated national employment and entitlements service will transform the nature and level of engagement between our employment services and those who are unemployed. It will also provide better targeted services to both job seekers and employers. The labour market activation measures outlined in Pathways to Work include over 85,000 job placement and work experience places to be delivered this year by the Department of Social Protection, and over 450,000 training and education places to be delivered by the Department of Education and Skills. In addition, the financial supports available to employers who recruit a person who is long-term unemployed have been improved. These include Revenue’s job assist scheme and the employer’s PRSI exemption scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection. The Government has been actively promoting these schemes to employers in recent months, with the support of business representative bodies. We must continue to do all we can to facilitate the return to work of those who have lost their jobs. I am currently preparing the 2013 action plan for jobs on behalf of the Government and will be exploring further measures which can be taken to transform our economy and support job creation.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Long-term unemployment is at a critical level. Since the Government has taken office, we have moved from 50% of those who are unemployed being long-term unemployed to 60%. The activities the Government has been involved in have had a negative effect. Long-term youth unemployment in Ireland is at the highest level in Europe. The Government is tinkering around the edges. This Government and the last Government have taken €24 billion out of the economy and at the same time the private sector has taken €30 billion out of the economy. Sucking that level of money out of the economy leads to the economy collapsing. The Government has been involved in a pro-cyclical policy, making the trough deeper. By these policies, the Government has taken a kango hammer to the Irish economy and it is in disorder as a result.

There are obvious solutions, and not just those proposed by Sinn Féin. There are internationally recognised counter-cyclical policies of investment. The country has two major strategic objectives for the next 15 to 20 years.

One concerns energy and resources problems. We have housing stock that is energy inefficient. We could match many of the long-term unemployed from the construction sector to the external cladding of these houses. A fund is available from the private pension industry which would be happy to be involved in this.

The second strategic objective is to increase our communications ability. We are at the bottom of the European league with regard to broadband. The provision of broadband would also employ people who are long-term unemployed, but that would take a complete about-face in Government policy. It is up to the Minister to do that.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is raising issues that go beyond my brief. He will know that the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Noonan and Howlin, have developed a stimulus plan that involves initiatives across a range of infrastructure. It includes, for example, the establishment of Irish Water and its development as a professionally run utility that will become a major asset in the long term. At present, we are losing €500 million from water leaking into the ground from a system that is under-performing. That is a major investment which will also improve our infrastructure. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, recently announced his plans to achieve a broadband spread across the country. Deputy Tóibín might take up this issue with Deputy Rabbitte.

The intention of the Government is to achieve financial consolidation, which is essential. We inherited public finances where spending was exceeding tax by about 50%. That is not sustainable. The Deputy is advocating expansionary policies with a heavy level of reliance on borrowing when we can only borrow from one source, having been locked out of the lending markets. We must restructure our economy and build new sectors that can sustain economic prosperity in the future.

A major transformation is under way but the Deputy is offering a simplistic analysis of the scale of the challenge and how we can address it.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, for his earlier remarks.

The Minister referred to the IDA's record year in 2011. The authority has also had a very successful nine months in 2012. One of its big announcements was of 1,000 jobs, but 500 of those jobs had to be filled from outside the State. Meanwhile, 306,000 people are unemployed, of whom 60% are long-term unemployed. We cannot have a skills shortage on the one hand and a serious unemployment problem on the other.

Can the Minister not look at the Fianna Fáil proposal to put a scheme in place similar to the one the Minister established when he was in his Department in a previous Administration? It was a technology transfer scheme where people who are in need of a job can go through the scheme and fill high-tech jobs, such as the 500 jobs to which I referred.

The Minister said some of Deputy Tóibín's proposals went beyond his ministerial brief. Deputy Bruton is the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. He should be a thorn in the side of every Minister in the Cabinet, demanding to know how many jobs they are creating in their Departments and how many jobs their proposals for the forthcoming budget will create. That is what the Minister with responsibility for jobs should be doing.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Calleary that there are issues of skills shortages. As part of our action plan for jobs, the Minister for Education and Skills rolled out a programme to double output in the ICT sector over the next five years. That will involve initiatives such as Springboard which will provide short-term conversion courses, as well as increasing the longer term outputs from the colleges. There are acute skills shortages in key areas. There are shortages of programmers, for example, in the ICT area. There are also shortages of people with combinations of IT and language skills. There are gaps in those areas and we will be seeking to focus initiatives there. There is scope for improvement in those areas.

We need to focus on job creation activities. When I commented that the Deputy was referring to other areas I was drawing his attention to the very worthwhile things that are happening in other Departments. The development of Irish Water is a significant new infrastructure. We are creating a new public utility that will involve employment in the short term as we rebuild and connect it and make it more efficient in the long term.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Irish Water will employ existing county council workers. There will be no new jobs.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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There will be new jobs. They will be outlined by other Ministers.

Investing, through NewERA, in the assets we need for the future and being willing to sell older assets from the past will, even in a financially strained economy, create funds to drive new employment and infrastructures. That is an area where real progress is being made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I participate collectively in the development of these proposals but they are the direct responsibility of other Ministers. They are worthwhile initiatives that are responding to the challenge we face.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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The problem with the Minister's answers is that they do not equate with reality on the ground. He has twice mentioned Irish Water. The work that will be transferred to Irish Water is currently being done by local authority workers. The contracts he referred to are short-term contracts for the installation of water meters to privatise the service and will be fulfilled by companies such as Sierra or SiteServ. There is no proper State-led investment to repair leaks and develop a proper infrastructure.

The policies the Minister identified as dealing with the unemployment issue are being used to add to the problem. The Minister mentioned activation measures. Schemes such as JobBridge are being exploited by the private sector, not to employ people but to take them on in cheap internships. Unless the Government recognises its over-reliance on the private sector, which has been on strike for the past number of years, and addresses that problem, the chronic and long-term unemployment that citizens are faced with will continue.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy refuses to see the positive things that are happening in the economy. This year, we had 95 high potential start-up companies. They were set up by predominantly young entrepreneurial people, men and women, who are setting up businesses that have the potential to grow to significant scale. We are backing those enterprises with preference shares, supports and mentoring. They are the new companies of the future that will create a strong new economy.

It takes a blinkered view not to see Irish Water as a new proper State-led investment. This is a State company, set up as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann. It is dealing with an asset of strategic long-term importance. Water is a hugely important asset and we are squandering it. We have a system that is not fit for purpose and is losing water into the ground. We need to build the system. We have given leadership in that regard. The work will involve employment in the rebuilding of the infrastructure and will be a win-win for the Irish economy. It is a wholly appropriate thing to do at this time.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The depression of the 1930s in the United States was probably worse than the present depression. That country worked its way out of it by applying the philosophy of John Maynard Keynes. The top priority was the creation of employment which led to growth and eventually to a balanced budget.

I know the Minister is focused on job creation, but does he not think the Government is putting budget balancing ahead of job creation and that its priority is to balance the budget and get the figures right? I do not say that is the Minister's priority but it seems to be the overall priority of the Government.

The failure to fix the leaks in the water infrastructure was not due to the lack of Irish Water. There was a State decision not to deal with the problem. I hope Irish Water fixes the leaks before it installs meters. One would not need to be a rocket scientist or a businessman to see that if we are losing almost 45% of our water it would be a very good business decision to stop the leaks before the meters are installed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Of course I am conscious that in an acute recession, such as the one we have now in Europe, we must have policies that are appropriate. Keynes was long an advocate of appropriate policies which included, during his time and which are still relevant, getting stability and confidence in a currency and having a system in which people will have confidence. That was not there during his time and, clearly, it is problem we must tackle at present. Equally, getting banks to lend was another obsession of Keynes. He wanted to get the system which had become broken repaired and back in action. That is absolutely true.

We need a growth strategy from Europe, and the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, is continually pursuing this at European level to complement, as Keynes would say, the stability of the currency and better banking policies. That is the trio that must be implemented if we are to get out of this recession. However, Ireland does not have the ability to deploy all those tools. Many of them require collective action across the 27 member states and that is extremely difficult to secure, as everybody knows from observing what is happening. There are huge challenges but we must ensure that the pieces we are working on are effective, and that is what I am seeking to outline.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The stimulus budget the Government spoke about a number of months ago amounted to approximately €2.5 billion. If one considers the cut in capital expenditure in the budget last year, which will obviously continue for the next number of years, the balance is that the Government stimulus adds €800,000 over six years. The idea of a stimulus is to impact the State with such a large investment that it radically changes the gear of the economy and points it in a new direction. As has been said, much of the investment that will be put into Irish Water will go on the metering of houses. What change in productivity will that bring to Irish society and its economy? It will bring none.

The Minister mentioned that the current ideas of stimulus were somehow simplistic. That is incredible because Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and John Maynard Keynes, who were Nobel Prize winners, said the best time to make an investment is when the economy is down. It does not make sense to have a stimulus investment when the economy is up. A stimulus investment only makes sense in this scenario.

With regard to there not being opportunities, the National Pensions Reserve Fund has billions of euro that are available to the State. The private pension industry is looking for an area in which to invest and has told me that the Government has not approached it with proper investment opportunities. We are in a critical situation and this is a burning issue throughout society. The Government must step up to the plate.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy must be aware, as everybody else is, that we are working within fiscal constraints that have been set by the troika. It happened before we took office but the country reached a point where, effectively, it could not borrow in the lending markets. There was only one place we could borrow and that was under the most strict conditions, of which the Deputy is aware. The conditions are about hitting key budgetary targets each year and the Government must do that. Our stimulus is about how, even within those targets, one can generate imaginative thinking that can create a stimulus package. Everything we are doing is of the type the Deputy has mentioned. It is about identifying new revenue streams, such as in the water sector, so we can have an investment programme to upgrade the key infrastructure. It is about taking funds in the National Pensions Reserve Fund and setting up, for example, the small and medium enterprises, SME, equity and lending fund which we are doing. That is the way in which we seek to drive a stimulus even though we are constrained by the international agreements we had to enter into to hit certain key borrowing targets. We are operating under severe constraints but, within that, we are producing the type of innovative strategies that can make a difference. The Deputy pretends those constraints are not there.