Feargal Quinn (Independent)

Several steps are being taken by the Government that seem to be working in the direction of job creation, something to which Senators O'Keeffe and Bradford have referred. Another step was yesterday's announcement of Springboard's plan for this year. Springboard is a scheme whereby the State allocates a considerable sum of money to develop people who already have qualifications, but not those needed at the moment. For example, people in the construction industry may have a degree in engineering or in architecture, but now they find that what they need is skills in pharmacy, food or whatever. The allocation has allowed a substantial number of people to go on to higher education to make them suitable for that.

This morning I met a man who has just come over for the jobs fair this weekend in the RDS. He is from Canada and he is looking to employ 200 people in the construction business, but he wants very specific skills, because people are only allowed into Canada with those specific skills. He is not looking for anybody who can work in construction; they must have particular talents.

The Government has recognised tourism once again by extending the lower 9% VAT rate for tourism for another year. That is good news and is a recognition that this creates jobs. However, it is 7% in Germany and 5.5% in France. When France brought the VAT rate down for hotels and restaurants in 2009, it actually increased jobs by around 10%. We can do something. We have to get across to those making the decisions that sometimes a lower percentage VAT rate can actually increase the amount of money that we take in. That is not fully understood by many people who have never had the experience of business. We must keep saying that. When Mr. McCreevy enacted legislation to reduce the gambling tax from 20% to 10%, there were howls that this was outrageous and that he was looking after his friends in Kildare in the horsey business. He came back the following year and said that he took in more money at 10% than he did 20%, and decided to reduce it to 5%. He then took in more money at 5% than at 10%. It is a real reminder that by reducing the tax rate, we can actually create jobs.