Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the announcement yesterday that funding of €10 million will be provided for the National Library of Ireland. It is fitting and appropriate that this investment be made to preserve the National Archives and restore the iconic National Library of Ireland building to its former glory for future generations.

I support Senator Mooney's call for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, to come before the House. The discussion should include the Action Plan for Jobs. This has been a significant week as, for the first time since 2008, unemployment has fallen below 9% from its peak of 15.1%. In addition, the number of people who are unemployed has fallen below 200,000 for the first time since 2008 and employment has grown in all eight regions. Surprisingly, the growth in jobs in the Border region stands at 12%, which is good news. In addition, approximately 56,000 additional jobs were created in the past 12 months and the number of people in part-time employment fell in the past 12 months, with the result that the number of people in full-time employment increased by 59,400.

Much work remains to be done. The roll-out of the regional action plans is a positive development, but if we are to remove a further 3% or 4% from the unemployment rate, which remains stubborn, we must ensure the regional action plans kick in and are effective. I very much welcome the launch of the regional action plan for the west on Monday last. I call for a debate with the Minister on how these plans can be maximised in order that jobs can be extended into more peripheral regions of the west and elsewhere. I have in mind towns that have suffered badly in the past decade, such as Ballinasloe, County Galway, where a thousand industrial jobs were lost in the past ten years. The regional action plan for jobs for the west must make a difference to places such as Ballinasloe. We should also discuss with the Minister ways in which we can ensure that IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland prioritise investment in regions that have lost out.

I welcome the announcement yesterday by the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs that €1.2 billion of European Union Structural Funds will be spent in Ireland in the period from 2014 to 2020. This includes €469 million from the European Regional Development Fund and €542 from European Social Fund co-funded programmes. This is a significant development, which I hope will assist in reducing unemployment to below 4% by 2020.