Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the significant job creation announcements this week for Kilkenny, Waterford and Dublin. They are an indication that confidence is returning to the economy and that overseas investors and multinational companies see Ireland as a place to do business. They see Ireland as a country and an economy which is getting its finances in order. We are seeing significant local innovation also. An entrepreneur in my own county will make in the coming weeks a significant announcement on a manufacturing facility in south-east Galway. Members may remember him from the "Late Late Show" many years ago when he was on with an innovative device for cleaning chimneys, a job most people dread doing. He hopes to create several hundred jobs with a device that will automatically clean a chimney having detected a build-up of soot by administering certain chemicals to dissolve it into a fine dust. It is a sign that confidence is returning, that people are willing to invest and that State agencies are providing significant support and encouragement to entrepreneurs and indigenous businesses. I ask the Leader to organise in the House a discussion with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, with whom we try to have a quarterly update on the jobs action plan. While the latest review of the plan showed that 97% of its actions have been achieved, we need further input as to how we can accelerate job creation activities within the economy given the unacceptably high level of unemployment which still exists.