Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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94. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which he has had discussions with his EU colleagues in the context of job creation throughout Europe and here in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30609/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since taking office, my colleagues Minister Sherlock, Minister Perry and I, along with senior officials from my Department, have availed of every opportunity to engage with the EU institutions on policies of mutual concern regarding jobs, growth and investment. To this end, bilateral meetings have been held on a regular basis at both official and Ministerial level with Commission and high ranking EU Officials, EU partners and like-minded Groups. This level of engagement intensified during preparations for and the chairing of the EU Presidency in 2013.

We have discussed with like-minded partners the prioritisation of EU initiatives under the Single Market Act and in particular the completion of the digital single market and the opening up of services markets and tackling unjustified and disproportionate “red tape”. I also fully support the core elements of the European Union's strategy for Jobs and Growth: Europe 2020 and its objectives to stimulate growth based on knowledge and innovation and a more sustainable and greener economy with high employment and social inclusion. These objectives are also broadly consistent with the Government's own strategies as set out in the Programme for Government and the Medium-Term Economic Strategy.

A key issue currently at EU level is the concept of mainstreaming competitiveness across all policies. The EU Competitiveness Council considers that there needs to be a more coherent and holistic approach between industrial and other intertwining EU policies such as research and innovation, competition, trade, energy, environmental and climate policies which should all contribute to enhancing EU and national competitiveness and ultimately job creation. This also implies a strengthening of the decision-making capabilities of the EU’s Competitiveness Council and preparatory Group, the Council’s High level Group on Competitiveness. We are actively involved in these ongoing discussions with like-minded partners and with the Commission.

Proactive support for the EU in liberalising trade and across the wider economic agenda, including that of competitiveness, should assist in making the Union’s role more relevant to business and citizens and contribute to strengthening our exporters’ opportunities and job creation. These have been a key focus under recent EU Presidencies including the Irish EU Presidency 2013.

The importance of investment in innovation, science and technology in employment creation is well recognised by Government. Therefore, we are continuing to work to maximise our strategic interests and funding possibilities under the EU’s new Research Programme (Horizon 2020 - €80bn) and the Programme for Competitiveness and SMEs (COSME - €2.23bn), both agreed under my chairmanship of the Competitiveness Council during our EU Presidency. Every opportunity will be taken to further Ireland's interests to ensure that we can extract the maximum benefit from the funding available under these Programmes, particularly in relation to maximising the scope for participation by SMEs.

Access to finance for SMEs is the most pressing problem. In that regard, the Government is making concerted efforts to source alternative financing methods (including non-banking) using European Investment Bank funding as additional leverage. The EU SME Envoy network will be tackling these issues in the coming months as part of the development and forthcoming review of the Small Business Act for Europe initiative. My colleague, Minister John Perry TD, Minister for Small Business, is Ireland’s representative on this network.

The Action Plan for Jobs emphasises the importance of Innovation and the use of technology as core drivers of job creation in Ireland’s key sectors during 2014 and into the coming years. In tandem with this approach, it is recognised that substantial international expertise and important sources of non-exchequer funding are available via EU research initiatives. Enterprise Ireland is responsible for coordinating Ireland’s national support network for helping Irish companies and third level researchers to participate in Horizon 2020. The Government has set an ambitious but achievable target of €1.25 Billion in funding from this Programme. Ireland’s drawdown from Framework Programme 7, Horizon 2020’s predecessor, was almost €600 Million. This funding has provided a considerable increase in the innovative capability of Irish industry and academics over and above existing exchequer investments in this area.

I have also participated incontinuing discussions with my fellow Ministerial colleagues at the regular meetings of the Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers (EPSCO Council) regarding maintaining the employability of the labour force including the long term unemployed and supporting the re-integration into the labour market of the most vulnerable groups to take advantage of potential sources of jobs in expanding sectors. I have found that Ministers are broadly agreed on the common challenges and on the need to maintain the momentum of ongoing structural reforms if lasting results are to be achieved.

Ministers are broadly agreed that, without a return to strong economic growth, and the normalisation of credit flows, the labour market situation in the European Union is unlikely to improve significantly in the short-term and further labour market reforms will become increasingly difficult to achieve. The EPSCO Council affirmed in March of this year that the most important factor in improving EU labour markets is to have more and better jobs created. In this context, on-going financial market fragmentation has led to very divergent interest rates for loans to businesses and households across the EU. This has profound implications for labour markets, as enterprises and in particular SMEs, Europe's engine for employment growth, continue to face barriers in accessing finance.

I will also continue to fully engage in the development of the EU’s common commercial policies, which I believe provide a strong stimulus for growth and job creation. Trade policy and the promotion of an agenda that progressively opens more markets for exporters is of great significance to Irish enterprise. My general position along with our like-minded partners is that we must enhance the EU's competitiveness agenda in order to give momentum to our exporting potential because there is a clear and unambiguous link between what we achieve on the competitiveness front and leveraging this for growth through trade deals that are good for jobs and growth.

We will continue to work with our EU partners, the incoming EU Commission and the European Parliament at all levels to progress these policy instruments and associated measures through the various Council Working Groups and Committees including through the EU Competitiveness, EPSCO and Trade Councils.