Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action taken to sustain and expand employment since July 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28930/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s labour market has shown remarkable resilience given the challenges Ireland has faced in recent years, including Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and global inflationary pressures.

According to the latest employment figures from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey, published on 23rd May of this year, total employment stood at 2.71 million in the first quarter of 2024. This represents over 300,300 additional jobs since the same period in 2020, when total employment stood at 2.4 million, an increase of around 14%. There are more people employed in Ireland than ever before. As per the CSO Statistical Release on Monthly Unemployment from the beginning of July, the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 4.2% in June 2024.

This record-breaking labour market performance reflects the continuing success of Ireland’s enterprise policy in sustaining and expending employment. To ensure that this momentum is maintained, my Department published the White Paper on Enterprise in December 2022, which sets out Government`s enterprise policy for the period through to 2030. The White Paper on Enterprise details how we will deliver on our ambition of a vibrant, resilient, regionally balanced and sustainable economy made up of a diversified mix of leading global companies, internationally competitive Irish enterprises and thriving local businesses. In particular, it seeks to ensure the continued creation of rewarding jobs and livelihoods across Ireland.

In order to achieve this ambition, Government has set out seven enterprise policy objectives in the White Paper; integrating decarbonisation and net zero commitments, placing digital transformation at the heart of enterprise policy, advancing Ireland’s FDI and trade value proposition, strengthening the Irish-owned exporting sector, enabling locally trading sectors to thrive, stepping up enterprise innovation, and building on Ireland`s existing strengths and opportunities, through a clustering approach.

The commitments set out in the White Paper on Enterprise are being implemented through a series of consecutive two-year Implementation Plans, the first of which was published in May 2023, and covers the period through to the end of 2024. The second update report, covering H2 2023, shows that significant action is already being taken to advance the enterprise policy vision set out in the White Paper across all priority policy areas, and presents a strong basis for optimism both today and for the future. The report outlines positive progress towards the achievement of the majority of the 15 target metrics as set out in the White Paper.

I am aware that it is essential that Irish enterprise has access to a pool of high quality, adaptable and flexible talent to ensure that the objectives outlined in the White Paper on Enterprise are realised. In order to meet this demand, my Department works closely with stakeholders across Government, in particular the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and its agencies, along with industry and the education and training system, in order to build and retain a highly skilled workforce to serve the needs of the economy.

Ireland’s skills development policy is supported by a responsive National Skills Architecture, which aims to ensure that education and training provision is optimally aligned with identified skills needs within the enterprise base. This architecture is overseen by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which provides the Secretariat for the National Skills Council. My Department, as well its agencies IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, are members of the Council. The Council draws on the labour market intelligence of the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of SOLAS, the Regional Skills Fora, and the enterprise skills demand forecast studies of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, the Secretariat for which is based in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

My Department is also working closely with the Department of Social Protection in implementing Pathways to Work, and with it the labour market activation of the unemployed, groups underrepresented in the workforce, and workers transitioning to more viable roles or sectors as our economy evolves.

The Government is also delivering a suite of measures aimed at improving job quality and labour market inclusivity, including making progress towards implementing the National Living Wage, and the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 which establishes the right of all workers to request remote working and the right of parents and carers to request other forms of flexible working. The latter has played a role in achieving Ireland’s increased levels of female labour force participation, a positive development which I very much welcome.

Government policies aimed at creating an attractive environment for both indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment and enhancing the availability of talent to employers- supplemented by measures such as those announced in May 2024 to help our small and medium sized enterprises maintain competitiveness and sustain jobs in the context of increased costs- have resulted in record-breaking levels of job creation being achieved in Ireland in the context of ongoing international economic and geopolitical turbulence, momentum I and my colleagues across Government are committed to maintaining.