Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I state clearly that if these initiatives represent a genuine focusing of Government attention on the significant economic and social problem that unemployment represents, they must be welcomed, and I do so on behalf of the Labour Party. Having virtually ignored the unemployment crisis and allowed the numbers on the live register to climb to almost 460,000, we now have two so-called major initiatives on employment within a week of one another from this Government.

I will give a parochial example of the importance of this issue. In Balbriggan, in my own constituency, the live register numbers have climbed from 1,377 since the general election in May 2007 to 5,233 by the end of August this year. This represents an increase of 3,856 people or 280% since the general election, which is a startling figure. It illustrates why it is so important for this strategy to be successful. Were it not for renewed emigration, the live register figures would be significantly higher. The priority for the Government must be jobs as the more people we get into work, the more people we get back to work and the more quickly our economy will be revived. That is self-evident.

We have had the Government jobs "summit" with the heads of State agencies and, more recently, we have had the launch of Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy, which we are discussing today. Many of the unemployed will suspect - with some justification - that these initiatives are more about an attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of this Government than getting people back to work. Perhaps that is a cynical view and I hope it turns out differently. Those who are unemployed know impressive sounding plans and initiatives have been launched by this Government that have come to nothing. We need to see some results flowing from these new plans.

This document is fairly typical of previous publications from the Government; it is high on ambitious targets and very short on specifics as to how these might be achieved. Senator Quinn has touched on this aspect. As with a number of previous initiatives, this document focuses on the smart economy. We must exploit the potential that exists in the smart economy and should maintain investment in science, technology and innovation. We must have realistic strategies for the bread and butter sectors of tourism, agribusiness and smaller businesses that can and will provide employment across the regions. We must deliver real jobs but not just jobs for people wearing lab coats. We must offer meaningful retraining and work experience programmes, which is something Labour has advocated for more than two years. The more people we get into work, the more people we get back to work and the more quickly our economy will be revived. People will spend and invest, State revenues will grow and our collective ability to meet the demands placed on us will be enhanced.

To achieve this, we will need a jobs strategy that has a number of components to it. We cannot hide behind the catch-all buzzword that the so-called smart economy has become. We must develop a knowledge economy but the term "smart economy" is being used to cover a multitude of aspects. Labour has been strongly supportive of public investment in science and technology, and we will continue that way. Research and development plays a critical role in a modern developed economy. That said, we cannot pretend that high-end scientific research is somehow going to provide employment for hundreds of thousands of people or that unemployed bricklayers are suddenly going to find jobs in laboratories.

We must maintain investment in science, technology and innovation but we need to see a better return on that investment in terms of jobs created. I want to see, for example, greater emphasis on applied research and on capturing the full benefit of our investment in new knowledge. We must have realistic strategies for the bread and butter sectors, like tourism, which can and will provide employment across the regions.

Building a knowledge-led sustainable economy will require investment. I came this morning from the joint committee dealing with education and science, which had Mr. Seán Cottrell from the Irish Primary Principals Network before it. In regard to information and communications technology, he stated that the overriding legacy of the integration of ICT into primary education has been the creation of a significant digital divide. He argues that other than schools where parents can afford to fund ICT and in a smaller number of cases where principals have secured the support of Irish-based multinationals, the majority of primary classrooms are not benefiting from technology. He goes on to say that successive Ministers have made repeated investment announcements and established multiple committees to advise but there is an urgent need to define the hardware and support systems that are needed.

That is in reference to the primary sector and one may argue that the issue is one for the long term. It must be addressed, however, if we are to meet our potential. Ms Sheila Noonan from the INTO stated that it deplored the lack of investment in schools' ICT at primary level, especially the lack of a nationwide supply of adequate, reliable broadband connectivity, inadequate investment in hardware and digital content to support the curriculum, and the lack of technical support for schools. This reflects a view in the education sector that we will not achieve our objectives in the long term. While these issues concern primary level education, they also affect secondary level.

We can work with our European partners to invest in the infrastructure of the future. I was pleased to hear yesterday's announcement by the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Mrs. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, on funding for research and development. I hope, given the Irish connection, Ireland will receive a reasonable share of this funding. Renewable energy systems are an obvious example of investment in infrastructure of the future. Ireland, however, will have to match and improve on the technological breakthroughs made in recent years from Denmark to Portugal in harnessing the potential of our natural wind and water resources, building a national smart grid, creating jobs, while cutting emissions and imports of fossil fuels.

It is essential to ensure the new clean technology sectors have the skilled workforces they need. It was reported recently that, according to a leading recruitment company, up to 60% of clean tech industry jobholders had to be sourced from overseas owing to a skills shortage here. The shortage of electrical engineers and wind energy analysts, in particular, is a concern. Worrying trends are also emerging from science and maths participation figures and achievement in education. Participation rates are low for physics and chemistry in the leaving certificate which, in turn, leads to a shortage of engineers and scientists. Ireland is unique among 21 countries in the European Union in not having science as a compulsory subject at junior certificate and lower secondary level. Students are poorly informed when it comes to career opportunities arising from studying in this area. Concerns have been raised about the number of employment opportunities in these areas and job security. We must provide training places to re-skill those who are unemployed and use the opportunity to develop skills essential to green industries. There is a particular role for the retraining of unemployed construction workers and tradesmen in green construction skills. We need to provide development opportunities to allow those with technical qualifications, in particular those in the engineering and electrical trades, to obtain level 8 and higher qualifications. Apprenticeships and science and engineering graduate training programmes must be increased, including sandwich courses for students who may wish to join the industry. There should be at least one mandatory science subject at junior certificate level.

The document, Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy, as I said, is high on targets but not on specifics. Terms such as "the government will continue to do this and continue to do that" are to be found throughout. For example, chapter 6.5, Delivering the Necessary Skills, states:

The education system will continue to be responsive to knowledge and skills needs in the internationally-oriented economy. The Government will continue to prioritise the development of enhanced maths, science and technology skills through an agenda of curriculum reform and by improving innovation capacity in second level schools.

It needs to be more specific in how this will be achieved.

Chapter 6.6, Expand our International Linkages, claims, "The Government will continue to support the development of an innovation-friendly, pro-competition regulatory framework for aviation", while keeping the €10 airport tax in place. Chapter 6.8 deals with modifying the visa regime to align with the strategy which, again, is a no-brainer. For the past four months I have been dealing with a constituent's case where his girlfriend from China cannot visit him in Ireland. Ireland does not let visitors or tourists in. Modifying the system cannot be allowed to take another year. It is imperative the process is speeded up. I accept the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Deputy Hanafin, stated last year she favoured changing the policy to allow visitors from China and certain other countries. This is a welcome development.

Chapter 6.11 states the proposed foreign trade council will meet at least twice annually and that all of its members will be selected from senior levels in their respective agencies and sectors. It is imperative the council meets every two months instead in order that it will work properly and successfully. The chapter also states the Minister of State with responsibility for trade and commerce will report to the Government every 12 months, setting out the council's conclusions and recommendations. Again, there is no sense of urgency. The strategy claims regular feedback from the Irish business community operating in the field will be critical to its success. Is there a project management approach to this, with a focus on deliverables and timelines?

The Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, has claimed international confidence in the economy is important and referred to negativity coming from the country from the Opposition parties. The Labour Party agrees with the broad parameters for economic recovery. If the Minister of State believes the Labour Party must agree with political choices concerning available resources during the budgetary process, he is clearly talking nonsense. In the good times, if the Labour Party did not agree with certain political choices, it voted against certain aspects of the Finance Bill. It will continue to make different political choices from those that may be made by the Government and not apologise for making them. Neither can this be considered as negative about the economy.