Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, I welcome the good news on the jobs front in recent days. I hope these are positive green shoots that will grow significantly during the coming year. The number of people at work is 1.85 million, which is an increase of 6,500 in recent months. It proves the Action Plan on Jobs is beginning to pay dividends. I would like the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to come to the House to discuss how we can accelerate the 333 actions in the plan. I agree with Senator Healy Eames that social entrepreneurship should be very much part of that discussion because there is significant potential in this area to increase job numbers. I am pleased that potentially 1,000 jobs could be created in my own county of Galway in the coming months following yesterday's news that a significant infrastructural project - the N17-N18 Gort to Tuam motorway - is likely to proceed. The Government has come up with the seed capital that will enable a public private partnership to be put in place and the good news is the road will not be tolled. This could create 1,000 jobs during construction in an area that has been devastated by emigration. This is badly needed good news.

The other good news is the positive start to the The Gathering year. The tourism figures for the end of 2012 and the beginning of this year have increased by 4.4% across all sectors. That has the potential to create much-needed employment and I hope the measures in the Action Plan for Jobs to incentivise employers to take on employees will be availed of in the hospitality sector. We need to build on these positive indicators to ensure the green shoots grow significantly over the next year or two.