I am delighted to be here this afternoon, with The Taoiseach and our fellow Ministers. Ireland has had a long and fruitful association with the OECD, and today is an opportunity to deepen our joint work together.
In some respects, 2014 will be the most important year for Ireland since the crisis began. The decisions that we make now, as we exit the bailout, as our recovery strengthens, will shape our future for many years to come.
You all know that Ireland has been through a period of profound crisis. As you know, we have faced a banking crisis, a fiscal crisis, above all, a jobs crisis. The Government that was elected three years ago faced directly into these problems. We confronted our problems head on, re-negotiated the EU-IMF Programme from within, and were successful in exiting the bailout last December. Where once we were loosing 7000 jobs a month, now we are creating 5000 jobs a month. Since the beginning of the year, 7000 job vacancies have been advertised, and unemployment has fallen again in January.
What we have to do now, is focus on two sets of decisions. Firstly, how do we strengthen and deepen the recovery, so that it is not just a recovery measured in statistics, but one that is felt in people’s lives. How do we drive on with creating more jobs, ensuring that no-one is left people, especially our young people. How do we ensure that our recovery, which is export-led, is balanced by recovery in the domestic economy, so that we provide employment to all groups and regions within the workforce.
Consumer confidence is returning, and construction activity is also picking up, but we need to do everything we can to ensure that the domestic economy returns to a normal and sustainable level of activity.
One of our main priorities is the Youth Guarantee. There is no greater priority than reducing youth unemployment. It has been a social and economic priority for our Government from the outset. I believe that if we do not tackle this problem, we risk undermining the fabric of our societies across Europe and destroying the prospects of a whole generation. We were proud that, during our EU Presidency last year, agreement was secured on the key principles of a Youth Guarantee. Our thanks to the OECD for supporting our national approach to the planning of the Youth Guarantee.
The second set of challenges we face, is to set our country on the path to sustainable longer-term growth. I want Ireland to be the best country in the world in which to have a job and raise a family. That means, in the first instance, planning a route to full employment. We can, if we stick to the task, rebuild our economy on a sustainable basis, so that by 2020, we have achieved full employment. To do that we have to not only expand our horizons, building up new markets and new trading partners, but we have to also strengthen our structures such as in the area of education and training, so that we are equipped, as a people, for the jobs of the future. We have plans in place to do that, and we are determined to drive on with reform.
But, no matter how committed we are, we must always be ready to learn from others. The OECD has a unique store of knowledge and experience, that we can draw on, on each step of the road to recovery. I am delighted to be hear today, and I thank the Secretary General and all his colleagues for their welcome and their support.