Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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91. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps to be taken to bring about economic recovery following the economic impact of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16007/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Since I took up the role of Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, my focus has been on preparing the July Stimulus Package which will be radical, of scale and far-reaching. Not only must we overcome the current challenges, but we must also look ahead and set our economy on the right course for the future.

Already there are some welcome signs of improvement in business activity and the economy. However, sectors that employ a lot of people, such as tourism and hospitality, arts and entertainment and other services that rely on social interaction, continue to be in serious difficulty and their recovery prospects are highly uncertain. While we can’t keep every firm and job alive, I believe our emphasis should still be to preserve these insofar as we can.

The July package will be followed in October by the National Economic Plan to be published on the same day as the Budget. The National Economic Plan will chart out our longer-term, jobs-led recovery.

I expect the Economic Plan will include a major reskilling programme, policies to promote balanced regional development and it will emphasise the importance of attracting and sustaining Foreign Direct Investment.

Before this crisis the Irish economy was performing stronger than ever. Last year, the Government launched Future Jobs Ireland to help make our economy more resilient and innovative and to facilitate enterprises and workers transition in light of technological development and climate change imperatives. The need to ensure the economy is green, digital and resilient hasn’t gone way. Therefore, the Future Jobs Ireland framework will be updated in light of these, the crisis, and new priorities.

Additionally, a new SME Growth Taskforce shortly will be formed with representation from a wide range of business representative bodies and enterprise agencies.