Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 199: To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department has prepared any report accounting for the way in which the sums of money raised from the jobs initiative of May 2011 have been spent to date; if so, if he will provide full details of the the way in which this has been expended; and if he will advise the number of full and part-time jobs that have been created as a result of the initiative. [29375/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Accounting for the way in which the sums of money raised from the Jobs Initiative have been spent is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the other Departments with responsibility for implementing the measures introduced. Employment data are presented in net terms and information on gross flows into and out of employment is not available, making it difficult to assess the number of jobs created by any policy initiative.

So leaving aside the fact that quantifying the impact is difficult, I am confident that the measures introduced by the Government in May, such as reducing the rate of VAT in the high value added tourism sector, are playing an important role in both creating and sustaining employment. My Department has been monitoring retail prices in affected sectors to evaluate the effectiveness of the reduced VAT rates. Its analysis which is based on data provided by the CSO has demonstrated high levels of pass-through of the VAT reductions to consumer prices.

Finally, I want to reiterate that addressing the difficulties in the labour market remains the Governments biggest challenge and, accordingly, Government is giving its highest priority to job protection and job creation.