Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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5. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to stimulate investment in sustainable enterprise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14754/17]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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This question relates to the fact that we as a country must invest in job creation in sustainable enterprises. Where is the long-term vision and plan and the joined-up interdepartmental thinking? What is the Government's plan to exploit the opportunity for thousands of jobs in the new renewable energy sectors in which it currently does not appear to be interested?

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through Enterprise Ireland, EI, and the local enterprise offices, LEOs, provides a range of supports to help Irish companies start, grow and export. In particular, Enterprise Ireland's new strategy for 2017 to 2020 will support more Irish companies to achieve greater scale, to be more competitive and expand into new export markets.

The objective of the Global Ambition strategy is to support enterprises across the economy to grow into strong international companies, developing world-leading products and services and exporting them all around the world. Sustainability is an important aspect of our drive to improve company level competitiveness. As part of helping clients to compete on world markets, Enterprise Ireland assists companies to incorporate sustainable practices into the day-to-day running of their business. Areas covered include environmental management systems, energy management systems and carbon management systems. Assistance also includes templates for devising an environmental policy statement and advice on the management of a business's environmental impacts.

Companies can also undertake technical feasibility studies into environmentally superior product design. Better environmental performance leads to improved efficiencies and direct savings in energy, water and waste costs. It can also increase access to customers who are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly products and services. Those supports will make Irish companies more sustainable, more successful and more resilient.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister for the information she provided on the supports and initiatives currently running in the area. To be honest, I still do not hear a comprehensive strategy. Unfortunately, the one element that is missing is ambition and we must be ambitious in this area. We need sustainability and sustainable enterprises not just to be part of the strategy, but rather the cornerstone of the Government's jobs policy. A just transition to the green economy is not only the right thing to do, but it is the smart thing to do. The Government is falling behind both other countries and the private sector.

The recent publication of the collaborative report between the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency commissioned by the German Government stated that, globally, we can create $10 trillion of value with 6 million new jobs by 2050. We need to seek to ramp up our national commitments to reach the goals of the Paris agreement. They are relevant not just to the Minister's colleague, Deputy Naughten, and his Department, but they are also incredibly relevant to this Minister and her Department. I do not see that joined-up thinking. This is the area in which we must grow our economy and it is where the jobs are located.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Martin. Enterprise Ireland's strategy is global growth and we will continue with that. If I may say so, we are quite successful. The unemployment rate is now at 6.6%, with over 2 million people at work. In 2016, some 63,000 people went out every morning having got a new job. We are quite successful and this Minister is very ambitious, especially that jobs go to the regions and rural Ireland.

For Ireland, the green economy presents a major opportunity for employment creation and we are very aware of that aspect. Growth forecasts for the global clean, green sector are strong, amounting to over 20% per annum up to 2020 or over €2 billion in sales. Irish enterprise needs to continue to increase its share of the global market for green goods and services. In Ireland, the green economy covers activities such as sustainable food production; tourism; green financial services, as well as other green products and services; resource management; waste management; water and wastewater management; renewable energy; smart grids; and energy efficiency. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland also runs a range of programmes and schemes to assist businesses.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Government must be much more active in helping create these new jobs in the renewable sector. Facilitating the movement of people into the sector while achieving our climate targets and fair and full employment in this country are indelibly linked. This is incredibly important for areas like the midlands, which currently has more than 3% greater unemployment than the rest of the country. The redirection of the peat public service obligation subsidy to the retrofitting industry could support more than 3,000 jobs, for example, with an average of 26 jobs per €1 million spent directly, indirectly or induced.

In creating a great economy, I suggest we must do two things. We must invest in new and renewable sectors and incentivise private businesses to do the same. We must also ensure that nobody is left behind, with new jobs created and retraining or reskilling options available to harness the wisdom and expertise of generations of people who have worked on making energy production in this country as efficient as possible. This is the new economy and we cannot afford to be left behind.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am very aware it is the new economy. We are very ambitious and we have set targets for 2017 in job creation of 45,000 jobs. I am quietly confident we will reach that target by embracing the green economy. I agree with the Deputy that it is nothing new and it is not that I have not heard this before. It has been brought up at many of our meetings with Enterprise Ireland so as to ensure our companies are competitive, sustainable and aware of what jobs can be grown in this new economy. We will continue to do that. The Deputy indicated that there does not seem to be joined-up thinking but she should look at the eight regional action plans for jobs, as well as the new action plan for jobs for 2017. She will see a very joined-up approach in them.