Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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79. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 391 of 5 November, the reason it is not possible to track the exact number of positions which have been filled as a result of the combined efforts of the measures introduced under the Jobs initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48411/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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One of the key roles of Government is to create a stable and supportive operating environment for businesses, where enterprises can start-up, grow and create jobs.

Since coming into office, the Government has taken a number of initiatives to support the business environment. These include recapitalising the pillar banks to enable them to commence lending again, re-establishing control of public expenditure, rebuilding Ireland’s reputation abroad, introducing the 2011 Jobs Initiative and delivering commitments under the 2012 and 2013 Action Plans for Jobs. All of these measures are combining in different ways to support companies, attract investment and support jobs growth. It is not feasible to disaggregate the impact of one initiative over another in what is a complementary suite of activity on the part of the Government to rebuild the economy.

However, the latest employment figures published by the CSO show that the number of people in employment increased by 33,800 in Quarter 2 of this year compared to the same period in 2012. This was the third consecutive Quarter where employment increased year-on-year. We have now moved from a situation where the private sector was losing over 7,000 jobs per month before this Government came into office, to one where it is creating close to 3,000 jobs per month. This follows on the success of Enterprise Ireland and IDA client companies in creating almost 10,000 net new jobs last year – their best performance in many years.

In Quarter 2 of this year, employment grew in nine of the fourteen economic sectors reported on by the CSO. These included Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, Accommodation & Food Services, Wholesale & Retail, and Industry. All of these sectors have been targeted for support under the Action Plan for Jobs process.

The Government will continue to build on this progress through the Action Plan for Jobs in 2014, as we continue to transform the economy from one based on unsustainable debt to one based on enterprise, innovation and exports.