Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 156: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the type of jobs created in the economy in the 12 months to date in both the manufacturing and services sectors; the way these figures compare with the previous 12 month period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45300/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Employment data in respect of agency assisted companies are collated on an annual basis and as such it is not possible to supply figures in respect of jobs created to date for 2008. The table below sets out the number of jobs created in enterprise agency assisted firms (IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development) broken down by sector for the year 2007.

Over the last number of years we have experienced significant churn in employment particularly in the manufacturing sector which has seen a number of job losses in the more traditional areas of manufacturing. However many of these jobs have been replaced by higher value added activities both in manufacturing and the services sector. The Irish economy is undergoing a certain amount of adjustment and while the rate of employment growth is expected to slow, it must be viewed in the context of historically unprecedented numbers of people in work. Since 1997, over half a million new jobs have been created in Ireland and the number in employment exceeds 2.1 million.

The economic environment is more challenging than we have seen for many years, however we have the foundations in place for long term economic growth through proactive policies such as the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation, the National Skills Strategy and the National Development Plan. Ireland is well placed to tackle the challenges we are facing, with a strong base of modern industry, a highly skilled and flexible workforce and a pro-business culture. We continue to work to maintain and enhance our framework competitive conditions, and promote new areas of competitive advantage by developing our R&D base, investing in critical physical and communications infrastructures, in line with the NDP and the Programme for Government.

The social partners agreed as part of the recently concluded review of "Towards 2016", that a Manufacturing Forum should be established in line with the recommendations of the High Level Group on Manufacturing. This matter is currently being progressed by my Department in consultation with the Department of An Taoiseach and the social partners. The implementation of the recommendations set out in this report will help to ensure that manufacturing will remain an integral component of our economy providing high value sustainable employment.

In tandem with our focus on adding value to the manufacturing sector, over the last two decades we have developed a very significant services sector which now employs two out of every three Irish workers. We are one of the world's leading service exporting countries and currently ranked the tenth highest exporter of services in the world. I recently launched the report of the Services Strategy Group, "Catching the Wave: A Services Strategy for Ireland". The report sets out new policy proposals on how we can ensure the continued development and growth of Ireland's services sector. I believe that the implementation of these recommendations will enable Irish service companies to exploit new and exciting opportunities, such as eLearning, business and financial services, professional and consultancy services and others which will lead to significant employment opportunities for our workforce.