Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on the his Department's commitments under the Action Plan for Jobs. [47372/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Action Plan contains over 270 individual actions to be delivered in 2012, spanning all Government Departments and 36 State agencies. The 270 actions are broken down further into Quarterly deliverables or “measures” which are reported on at the end of each Quarter. Approximately 60% of the measures in the Action Plan for Jobs are for delivery by my Department or its agencies.

To the end of the third Quarter this year, around 130 measures had been implemented by my Department and its agencies, giving a delivery rate of approximately 97%. Only three measures were delayed. These are all legislative measures covering:

- the extension of SFI’s remit to allow the agency to fund applied research,

- the proposed new structure for the employment rights institutions, and

- the Consolidated Companies Bill.

These pieces of legislation have been delayed for a number of reasons, including the detailed and complex nature of the legislation in question, the demand on resources in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, and the availability of time for legislative business in the Houses of the Oireachtas. However, I expect to publish the Consolidated Companies Bill by the end of the year and I can assure Deputy that every effort is being made to ensure that the remaining legislation is progressed as quickly as possible.

With regard to the 130 or so measures which have been implemented by my Department and its agencies since the start of the year, some of the key deliverables are:

- improving access to finance for Irish business, particularly through the introduction of the Microfinance Fund, the Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee scheme and the Development Capital Fund;

- initiatives to assist more indigenous companies to trade internationally, including through the setting up of a Potential Exporters Division in Enterprise Ireland;

- the introduction by Enterprise Ireland of a clustering programme, the Competitive Start-up fund, a Women In Business programme and the New Frontiers programme for new entrepreneurs;

- the launch by IDA Ireland of the Succeed in Ireland initiative to supplement the agency’s continued efforts to attract foreign investment to Ireland;

- the enactment of legislation to reform the statutory wage setting mechanisms;

- the establishment of new Technology Centres in Cloud Computing, Learning Technologies and Financial Services.

Full details of all the measures delivered by my Department and its agencies can be found in the Quarterly Progress Reports on the Action Plan for Jobs which are available on my Department’s website, www.enterprise.gov.ie.