Written answers

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Job Creation

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his expectations in relation to the creation of short to medium term employment in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11133/14]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Quarterly National Household Survey, which was published by the Central Statistics Office on 27 February, showed that the number of people in employment increased by 61,000 year-on-year in the fourth Quarter of 2013, net of a reduction of 5,500 people in the public sector. This was the fifth quarter in succession where employment has grown year-on-year.

There are now 1.909 million people at work, compared to 1.847 million at the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process. We are now creating jobs faster than any other economy in the EU or the OECD, at a rate of 4.5% per annum in the private sector.

In the final Quarter of 2013, employment increased in 10 of the 14 economic sectors, including Agriculture, Tourism, Professional and Scientific activities – all areas of focus for the Action Plan for Jobs.

These figures suggest that we are seeing sustained progress in our efforts to support employment creation through the Action Plan for Jobs. However, with our unemployment rate still above the EU average at 12.1%, we cannot afford to be complacent. We must continue the process of improving our competitiveness and helping companies to start up, grow and create more jobs.

The 2014 Action Plan for Jobs was published by the Government on 27th February and builds on the 2012 and 2013 Action Plans. This year’s Plan includes targets for the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the new Local Enterprise Offices to support a total of 30,500 direct new jobs during 2014.

Enterprise Ireland will target the creation of 13,000 new full-time permanent jobs and target €17.5 billion in exports by client companies in 2014.

IDA Ireland will also target 13,000 new gross jobs in 2014 and work to win another 155 new FDI investment projects, with 20% of those from growth markets. In addition, a further 10,000 jobs (6,000 direct and 4,000 indirect) will be created over a five year period through the recruitment of extra staff for IDA overseas.

The work of the enterprise agencies will be supplemented by our efforts, under the Action Plan, to support the recovery of the domestic economy in areas such as Construction, Retail and Tourism, where there is potential for significant jobs growth as the economy recovers.

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