Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Jobs Minister Richard Bruton speak at the Action Plan for Jobs Quarterly Report earlier
The JobsPlus scheme to provide direct cash incentives to employers to hire the long-term unemployed, a new €175million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme and the beginning of the roll-out of the new Local Enterprise Offices to support start-ups and micro-businesses were among 160 measures to support job-creation delivered in the past three months under the Action Plan for Jobs 2013.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Jobs Minister Richard Bruton today published the sixth progress report of the Action Plan for Jobs, showing that 160 out of 180 measures committed for delivery in Q2 2013 have been implemented. A commitment to publish quarterly progress reports is part of the system of ensuring strong implementation of jobs-support measures across Government through the Action Plan for Jobs.
Among the measures delivered are:
•JobsPlus, the scheme to provide regular cash payments to employers to offset wage costs where they employ people who have been on the Live Register for over 12 months
•A new €175million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme, aimed at leveraging private sector funds to provide a total of €700million in funding to high-growth Irish companies with the potential to grow employment, as well as mentoring and networks
•Beginning to roll-out 31 Local Enterprise Offices across the country, a network of first-stop shops to deliver world-class services to start-ups and micro-businesses in every county in the country
•Launched a National Step Change Initiative for manufacturing businesses, as part of the Government’s plan to supply 20,000 additional jobs in this sector
Official employment figures published by the CSO recently show that the private sector has been adding an average of more than 2,000 jobs per month since the Government published and commenced implementing the Action Plan for Jobs in early 2012. During the three years 2008-2010 an average of 7,000 jobs per month were being lost in the private sector.
The figures also show that:
•The unemployment rate has dropped from 14.1% to 13.7% - the first time since 2010 it has gone below 14%
•The numbers of people unemployed has dropped below 300,000 for the first time since 2010
•The long-term unemployment rate has fallen from 9.5% to 8.4% in the past year
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said:
Getting Ireland back to work remains the Government’s number one priority and the Action Plan for Jobs is the key driver of work across Government to make the changes needed to support investment and jobs. While there are 2,000 jobs a month being created in the private sector we must do more to break down the barriers to entrepreneurship and job creation. Any targets missed during the past quarter will be prioritised for urgent implementation by Government.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said:
We are starting to see real progress with our plan to rebuild the economy after 250,000 jobs were lost during the last three years of the previous Government due to the collapse of their economic model based on property, banking and debt. We know that many people have yet to feel the effects of this progress and that many people are really struggling. Since the Action Plan for Jobs was first put in place an average of 2,000 jobs per month are being created in the private sector. Irish and multinational exporting companies had record years in 2012, and recent figures show that this strong performance is continuing in 2013, with major announcements by companies like Glanbia, eBay and Symantec. Today’s announcement shows that the progress is continuing. Jobs will remain our top priority, and we will continue to implement the changes necessary to rebuild the economy. We will continue to deliver on our plan and accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy based on exports, innovation and enterprise that can provide the jobs that we so badly need”
Read the full press release
here.