Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We should congratulate the Taoiseach and all of his Ministers on the jobs outturn published earlier. A total of 65,000 additional jobs were created in the past 12 months. The target set in 2012 was to have 100,000 additional people at work by 2016, but a total of 200,000 new jobs has been achieved in a short period. The State has not relied on the construction industry which is expanding to create these jobs. Senator Gerald Nash raised the issue of zero-hour contracts. Employers will have to change what they are offering in the not too distant future because the unemployment rate will reduce to 5% or even 4.5% in a short timeframe and they will have to compete for employees. That is when the Senator will see a response to that issue. The work being done on the job creation programme by all State agencies needs to be acknowledged, whether it be IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland or Tourism Ireland. Everyone has done a tremendous job because good leadership has been provided.

Senator Catherine Ardagh raised the housing issue. We set a clear target. We had to make sure jobs were created in order that income could be generated to provide services. The building of houses can now take off because funding will be available. Likewise, we will be able to respond to requirements in the health service because there will be access to funding. That is the key achievement of this and the previous Government.