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Minister Noonan, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Richard Bruton at the press conference today

The Government today published the ninth Action Plan for Jobs Quarterly Progress Report, showing that 97 out of the 103 measures earmarked for delivery in Q1 2014 have been implemented.

Also today, the authoritative IMD world competitiveness rankings 2014 were published, showing Ireland in 15th place globally, up from 17th in 2013 and 24th in 2011. In 2000 Ireland placed 4th in these rankings, but this had fallen to 14th by 2007 and then to 24th in 2011.

Among the Quarter 1 measures delivered are:

• Opened the 31 Local Enterprise Offices, to provide more and better services to SMEs across the country
• Developed a government-wide online guide for SMEs so they can learn which of over 80 Government business supports are applicable to their business (www.localenterprise.ie/smeonlinetool)
• Started the national rollout of the Trading Online vouchers to support SMEs in taking advantage of the huge opportunity offered by online selling
• Published a new ICT Skills Action Plan to increase to 75% the proportion of ICT vacancies filled by people from the Irish education system by 2018
• Published Construction 2020, to support a more competitive, innovative construction sector employing sustainable numbers of people

Also in this quarter, the OECD published its review of the Action Plan for Jobs, concluding that the plan is working while recommending adjustments to maximise its potential. The review stated that the plan represents a “sound approach” to job-creation and “marks an important innovation in Irish governance”.