Dan Boyle (Green Party)

The green enterprise group has identified 80,000 jobs and the knowledge society task force has identified 30,000 to be created in the next decade. Some 15,000 of those jobs have already been created. The biggest contribution in new jobs has come about through green economy jobs. The Senator might not be prepared to acknowledge that but it is the fact in respect of labour market policies in this country and I am proud it is happening.

The overall number of jobs to be created through the green and smart economies over the next decade is 127,000. The throwing out of figures can be fatuous in debates like this. I note that Fine Gael's policy document speaks about 100,000 jobs being created. Nobody seems to talk about 67 or 463 jobs being created in any particular period-----