Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 49: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the prediction made by FÁS that an additional 87,000 workers will lose their jobs during 2010; her views on the FÁS prediction; the steps she will take to counter this trend; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11360/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I note the publication of the latest FÁS Quarterly Labour Market Review for Winter 2009/2010, which was published on 12th February 2010. The report forecasts that average employment is likely to decline by 87,000 this year in comparison with last year. This prediction is broadly in line with other forecasts. However, the FÁS report also suggests that the upward trend in unemployment has begun to stabilise. The recent Live Register statistics for February, which showed an increase of 20 people signing on in February in comparison with January, is further evidence of this stabilisation.

Last week FÁS and the ESRI published their Occupational Employment Forecast for 2010. This report forecasts that employment in most occupations is expected to recover from the lows reached in 2010, but the speed and the extent of recovery is likely to vary by occupation, with some occupations emerging with relatively strong employment growth and others failing to reach pre-recession levels by 2015. In addition, this report also forecasts that between now and 2015 an additional 250,000 jobs will be generated. In the interim the Government continues to place a strong focus on job creation. Last week I launched "Horizon 2020" IDA Ireland's strategic blueprint for attracting Foreign Direct Investment into Ireland in the coming decade. With this strategy IDA Ireland will target the delivery of over one hundred thousands new jobs by 2014.

Enterprise Ireland continues to deliver a wide range of supports to Irish companies, targeted at the specific requirements of clients throughout all regions to ensure that they develop to their full potential in terms of innovation and exports, which in turn, stimulates job creation. For their part the County and City Enterprise Boards also continue to provide support for small businesses in the start-up and expansion phases. Job creation is an inherent consideration in the activities of the Boards.

The Government have also announced the introduction of a new jobs stimulus measure in Budget 2010. Under the Employer Jobs (PRSI) Incentive Scheme, where an employer creates a new job and takes on a person who has been unemployed for 6 months or more, the employer will be fully exempted from the liability to pay PRSI for the first year of that employment. This will give employers an 8%-10% saving on employment costs for each new job created. To protect vulnerable employment, my Department has introduced the €100 million Enterprise Stabilisation Fund and the €135 million Employment Subsidy Scheme. These initiatives aim to support companies experiencing difficulties because of the current economic climate. It is expected that the Employment Subsidy Scheme, which is designed to support the maintenance of vulnerable jobs and prevent people from being made redundant will either directly or indirectly support approximately 80,000 jobs this year.

In addition to these measures, the Government have significantly expanded the support services available to those who are unemployed. For instance job search supports services have been expanded to cater for a planned National Employment Action Plan referral capacity of 154,000 people this year compared to the 74,000 people who were supported in 2008. This year my Department will provide approximately 147,000 training and work experience places, which is a substantial increase on the 66,000 places that were delivered in 2008. There have also been increases in the capacity of the education sector with an estimated 166,000 learners benefiting from full and part time learning opportunities in further education. The higher education sector is also accommodating increased numbers of people with the total number of full-time enrolments in universities and Institutes of Technology projected to be over 140,000 for this academic year, an increase of 4.5% on the last academic year.

The Government will continue to do all in its power to create the environment for new job opportunities, protect and safeguard our existing jobs and provide the necessary supports and assistance to enable those who are unemployed improve their chances of securing a job in the future.