Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Action Plan for Jobs

9:55 am

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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5. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37226/15]

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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I ask the Minister to report on the Action Plan for Jobs. Does he agree that it is not an action plan for decent jobs or work but instead a plan for driving down working conditions, normalising people working for free, driving an agenda of tax cuts for big business and increasing corporate welfare?

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that the Action Plan for Jobs is nothing of the sort. It has been an annual process whereby changes have been developed across government and subsequently implemented with a strict timetable overseen from the Office of the Taoiseach. The focus of the actions is to achieve key targets, principally getting 100,000 people back at work and improving the business environment for growing strong enterprises.

The Action Plan for Jobs has focused on three main areas, namely, programmes that have made it easier for enterprises to establish and grow jobs, sectors that can be successfully developed and measures that allow Irish business to compete more successfully. This has been a successful policy approach. The jobs target has been exceeded, with 126,000 additional people at work. These jobs are in sectors which have solid and sustainable foundations with good prospects and working conditions. Competitiveness has also improved significantly.

In terms of implementation, there has been a quarterly monitoring and reporting system and publication of quarterly progress reports. Since the action plan was first launched, the average quarterly completion rate has been more than 90%.

One of the strengths of the process has been the open consultation on policy areas where improvements can be made and the involvement of industry partners in the implementation of some of the initiatives. This has allowed continuous learning and development.

The OECD has commended the policy approach and made useful suggestions which have been incorporated. In 2015 we have deepened the process by developing regional action plans which can drive the same collaboration at regional level.

My intention is to publish the Action Plan for Jobs 2016 in mid-January next. My Department is developing the 2016 action plan and engaging bilaterally with enterprises and Departments to identify actions to ensure the plan is as ambitious and impactful as possible and will keep us on track to achieve our goal of having 2.1 million people in employment by 2018.

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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The Minister's use of the phrase "improving the business environment" gives the game away. The approach of the Fine Gael Party, to which the Labour Party has unfortunately acquiesced, is based on the idea that the State cannot create jobs but can only create the environment in which big business can create them. To achieve this end, businesses must be incentivised. This approach lies at the heart of the Action Plan for Jobs and its extent is demonstrated in the case study on page 72 of the 2015 action plan. It refers to a company which receives free labour through JobBridge for nine months and subsequently hires the same intern through JobsPlus, for which it receives an additional €10,000 from the State. From the employer's point of view, the pretence of training usually associated with the schemes is dropped and she freely admits that JobBridge and JobsPlus are now the "backbone" of her "growing business". At the heart of the action plan is a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to employers. More than 80,000 people are on activation schemes, many of whom are being grossly exploited. A review of JobBridge has been alluded to. What is the status of this review? Is the Government open to abolishing the scheme?

10:05 am

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Again, Deputy Murphy seeks to distort the reality. The truth is the jobs being created are quality jobs. In the past two years all of the jobs have been full time. There has been a reduction in part-time work, in particular involuntary part-time work has dropped by 23%. Unemployed people have been major beneficiaries of this progress and the number of people on the live register has decreased by 111,000 over the past three years. The number of long-term unemployed has dropped by 60%. With regard to the prevalence of schemes, 9,500 extra people are on schemes overall, but 92% of all employment growth has nothing whatever to do with schemes. These jobs are in quality sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, financial services, business services and engineering, and they are all supported by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. They are in good sectors with a sustainable future. We also see a recovery in employment in construction, another sector with good pay rates and good conditions. The Deputy seeks to distort reality just to fit his own view of the world.

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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Let me tell the Minister about some reality. In my constituency a number of places in a vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS, which is a further education scheme, were cut and instead we have extensive use of the Gateway scheme whereby hundreds of peoples have been working for €1 for 20 hours a week for almost two years. They are involved in protests against the scheme, which they describe as soul destroying. The morale of the group is very down. People treat it like a prison sentence at this stage because they simply do work which is meaningless and they do not feel valued for it. This is what faces ordinary people, but for corporations, between Starbucks, Apple, Google and the other, the Action Plan for Jobs and the general approach of the Government means not paying any tax. The Government was forced to drop the double Irish a year ago, but one year later we have the knowledge development box, which is another tax loophole aimed at corporations. The Government's job creation agenda is to give the corporations all of these incentives and free money and then ensure they do not pay any tax.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy seeks to denigrate work experience programmes, but the truth is every country which seeks to achieve a transition for people who have been out of work for a period after an economic crash like we have experienced use such programmes. The good news, which the Deputy refuses to acknowledge, is that of the 126,000 extra people at work 92% of them are in initiatives not supported by the State in any way. They are in strong sustainable sectors. They provide good conditions and they are growing strongly. They are in sectors we have targeted, such as manufacturing, engineering, ICT and financial services. These are all sectors with long-term prospects. They are also in very important traditional sectors such as food and tourism. We are getting a broad-based recovery; the Deputy does not want to recognise this, but it is the reality. We see our streets are busy with traffic and restaurants and bars are fuller. There is a recovery and we need to build on it. This is what we are intent on doing.