Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

It has been some achievement. In coming to office, we were told we would not have a jobs budget but we have had one that made significant progress in reducing employers' PRSI and VAT for the hospitality and tourism sectors. We have an ambitious action plan on jobs, which is trying to tie together the agencies in achieving the objectives of 100,000 jobs between now and 2015. Pathways to Work, which was announced by the Minister for Social Protection, includes an ambitious target of moving 75,000 people into strong activation measures in the labour market. The JobBridge programme, which was attacked by the left although not by Fianna Fáil, has worked and 5,000 internships have been given to people in the private or public sectors.