Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the specific programmes he has to promote employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24036/12]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will set out the various employment creation incentives put in place since March 2011; the extent of the uptake in terms of jobs created or protected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27681/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 77 together.

The Action Plan for Jobs contains over 270 actions to be implemented by all 15 Government Departments as well as 36 State agencies, and is intended to improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove barriers to employment-creation across the economy. The Plan aims to deliver on the Taoiseach's commitment to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business, and increase the number of people at work in Ireland by 100,000 – from 1.8m to 1.9m – by 2016. The Action Plan for Jobs has also set the following established ambitions:

· To get Ireland back to a top-five ranking in international competitiveness

· To build world-class clusters in key sectors of opportunity

· To build an indigenous engine of growth that drives up the export market share of Irish companies

· To get the number of people at work in the Irish economy back to 2m by 2020.

Enterprise Ireland's objective on behalf of Government is to drive the growth of Irish companies in overseas markets which in turn will support job creation in Ireland and develop Ireland's international trade, innovation, leadership and competitiveness. The ultimate goal is increased exports, employment and prosperity in Ireland. The agency has a number of programmes in place to achieve this goal, including direct financial support to industry for capability development, support for the Seed and Venture Capital sector in Ireland to promote availability of equity financing and support for Entrepreneurship and High Potential Start-Ups.

EI actively works with viable companies to help them to both sustain and create jobs. More than 162,000 people directly rely on Enterprise Ireland client companies for their employment. In 2011 alone, 9,038 new jobs were created in EI client companies.

The 35 County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) have primary responsibility for the delivery of State support to the indigenous micro-enterprise sector i.e. businesses which employ 10 or less workers. Through the provision of both financial and non-financial support, the CEBs are central in assisting many micro-enterprises in developing into strong export entities where they have sufficient mass to access the services of Enterprise Ireland. In 2011, 7,253 jobs were created in CEB-assisted companies.

In accordance with its Horizon 2020 Strategy, IDA Ireland is aiming to create 62,000 direct jobs in 640 investments over the period 2010 to 2014, with 50% of these investments located outside of Dublin and Cork. In implementing its strategy, IDA Ireland is also working with existing client companies in Ireland in order to transform the existing foreign direct investment (FDI) base with a view to developing, retaining and growing employment opportunities in these companies.

In 2011, IDA Ireland client companies created 11,594 new jobs despite the current global economic situation and a strong increase in international competition. In accordance with the Government's Action Plan for Jobs, IDA Ireland is working to target another 144 new FDI investment projects in 2012, which will create 12,500 new jobs.