Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which he has met with or intends to meet all of the stakeholders in the economic sphere with a view to identification of objectives in the context of economic recovery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14951/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since I took up office as Minister with responsibility for jobs, enterprise and innovation, I have met with various stakeholders to hear their views on the economy, job creation and the needs of enterprise. These stakeholders include employer representatives, employee representatives, business representatives, individual companies and other relevant parties. I have also led trade and economic missions to Germany, India and Saudi Arabia, where I had the opportunity to see and hear at first hand the importance of these key markets to trade and investment. I met with many Irish companies operating in these markets, as well as with potential new investors in our economy. They, too, had interesting ideas and suggestions that could enhance our exports and investment performance.

The Government has obtained a secure and stable mandate to bring about economic recovery and our objectives are set out in the Programme for Government. These objectives include:

· restoring our public finances,

· supporting the protection and creation of jobs,

· restoring confidence in, and getting the economy moving,

· fixing the banking system,

· radically reforming our system of public administration, and

· rebuilding Ireland's reputation on the international stage.

We are well on the way to delivering on these objectives. The Jobs Initiative which was announced on 10th May was one of the early steps taken by the Government to deliver an improvement in the growth rate of the economy. This year, we can look forward to positive growth after three successive years of economic decline. We fully expect this growth to accelerate as we move into 2012 and beyond. In my capacity as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, I will continue to meet with representative bodies, companies and individuals who can offer helpful suggestions as to how we can continue to build on the progress we have made so far in bringing about economic recovery.