Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The role of Government is to create the economic conditions in which enterprise can grow and jobs can be created. The National Recovery Plan sets out how the Government intends to do this over the next four years, including actions which the Government will take to reduce costs for business across the economy. In this regard, I would refer the Deputy to the answer I provided to his question, no. 167 (45742/10) of 2nd December 2010 last for further details of the specific actions included in the Plan.

The actions which this Government has already taken have resulted in the fundamental pillars of our domestic economy stabilising and showing strong signs of a return to growth. In its reports published over the past year, the National Competitiveness Council has acknowledged that Ireland has already seen competitiveness gains in the period since January 2008. Ireland currently has the highest level of growth in industrial output in the Eurozone. According to the latest Eurostat figures, Ireland's industrial production was 14.2% higher in November 2010 than in November 2009. This increase was almost twice the Eurozone average increase of 7.4% for the period in question.

Our exports are increasing in both goods and services, with the latest figures from the CSO showing that exports for the first three quarters of 2010 were up 8.67%, or €9.37 billion, on the same period the previous year. Through the Government's strategy for "Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy", these increases in exports will continue to create jobs in the exporting sectors of the Irish economy, but will also lead to spin-off effects in the creation of new jobs in other domestically-trading sectors such as the wholesale, retail and commercial services sectors.