More than 1600 jobs being shed per week in three years before Government took office
The private sector has been adding on average 1200 jobs per week for the past year, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Jobs said today (Tuesday) at the launch of the Government’s latest jobs report.
CSO statistics published today also show that 22,500 jobs have been added across the country in the past three months; that the unemployment rate has decreased to 12.6% and that the long-term unemployment rate has decreased from 8.9% to 7.6% over the past year.
They were speaking at the publication of the seventh Action Plan for Jobs quarterly progress report, which reports on measures delivered and undelivered during Q3 2013. The system of quarterly progress reports is a key part of the Action Plan for Jobs architecture, ensuring that Government holds itself to account in public on implementation of measures to improve competitiveness and support job-creation, thereby maximising delivery rates.
Out of 122 measures due for implementation during Q3 2013, 102 have been delivered, representing a completion rate of 84%.
Notable among the actions include significant elements of the Disruptive Reform priority measures identified in the 2013 Action Plan, including:
· JobsPlus – high early take-up, with nearly 500 job matches already made between employers and job-seekers
· Big Data – technology centre and joint Govt/industry task-force established, two pilot projects identified and further projects being assessed
· ICT skills – new e-form, waiting times for employment permits reduced by 27%, further improvements expected in Q4
· Online trading – pilot scheme up and running
Among the impacts of the Action Plan for Jobs so far in 2013 are:
· Over 6,000 higher education places for unemployed & previously self-employed people via Springboard
· 1650 ICT graduates via Springboard/ ICT graduate conversion programmes
· Over 2,200 meetings took place at the event with 647 companies participating in the International Markets Week, helping Irish companies increase their business in overseas markets
· Over 600 people have engaged with the ManagementWorks training and development programmes to help SMEs to improve their performance by building their managerial capability. Companies have reported that this has resulted in over 50 new jobs created and 280 jobs retained
· 400 new jobs for the Water Metering Programme. Will be 2,000 jobs when fully operational
· 580 new jobs created via 19 significant investments in the food and drink sector
· Visitors to Ireland up by 6.5%, supported by the Tourism Marketing Fund
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD said:
"Creating better conditions for new jobs is our top priority as we approach the exit of Ireland’s bailout next month. I am confident that the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs has contributed to Ireland’s rising reputation as a location for enterprise and investment. Over 1,000 new jobs are being created every week and there are positive signs that business confidence is rising. There is still much more we have to do before we can claim that Ireland is the best small country in the world for business. We will continue to deliver on the reforms necessary to reduce business costs and to make Ireland more competitive."
An Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore TD said:
"The CSO figures are very encouraging. We have had a number of important economic indicators in recent months but today's figures are the best indicator yet that the recovery of the economy is taking hold. I am particularly encouraged that more than 90% of the jobs created in the last year have been in full-time employment. Nobody should get carried away with one set of figures but we can all take heart from what these figures tell us."
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said:
“It is now nearly two years since we first launched and started implementing the Action Plan for Jobs, and we are now really starting to see the results. Over seven quarters we have made hundreds of changes across 15 Departments and dozens of Agencies to improve supports for job-creation. When we took office, the economy was shedding well over 1600 jobs a week – today’s figures show that we are now adding more than 1200 per week. All sectors and all areas of the country are benefiting from the positive movement, and we are seeing substantial decreases in both the overall unemployment rate and the long-term rate. While many people are not yet feeling the impact of these changes and we have a long way to go, this is really positive movement in this crucial area. We in Government will continue working hard to improve competitiveness and employment supports and maintain this hugely positive momentum in job-creation”.
The report can be accessed at: http://www.djei.ie/publications/2013APJ_Third_Progress_Report.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, 01-6312200, press.office@djei.ie
NOTES FOR EDITORS
This is the seventh quarterly progress report from the Monitoring Committee established by Government to monitor and drive implementation of the measures contained in the Action Plan for Jobs. It outlines progress made on measures due for completion in the third quarter of 2013. The Monitoring Committee comprises representatives of the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Forfás, and the Office of the Tánaiste.
The Government published the second in its multi-annual Action Plan for Jobs series in February this year. This Plan, which contains 333 actions to be implemented in 2013 by all Government Departments and 46 agencies, will build on the progress made in 2012 and continue to improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove the barriers to employment-creation across the economy. These actions are additional to the 249 actions already implemented under Action Plan for Jobs 2012, and reported on by the Monitoring Committee in its previous four quarterly reports (see www.djei.ie). In a departure from the 2012 plan, Action Plan for Jobs 2013 contains seven headline ‘Disruptive Reform’ measures – these are high-impact measures with highly ambitious deadlines, implemented in partnership with senior industry partners and selected because of their potential to have a significant effect on job-creation.
Disruptive Reforms
Notable among the actions delivered include significant elements of the Disruptive Reform priority measures identified in APJ 2013, such as:
Big Data - A joint Industry/Government Taskforce was established in July, has completed an audit of Big Data potential projects across the public service. Two pilot projects have now been identified to proceed with immediately. These are in the area of labour market activation and agricultural production. It is expected that following a call for expressions of interest from EI that further projects will be identified and supported in this vein before the end of 2013.
ICT Skills - As part of our plan to double our available number of ICT graduates in parallel with a significant ramping up of output from colleges and conversion courses in Q3 we introduced a unified employment permits application e-form, which will ultimately make it easier for clients to complete, resulting in greater accuracy and better data quality. This has helped reduce waiting times for processing of applications by 27%, with further improvement planned for in Q4.
Integrated Licensing Portal for Retailers - The plan to have a single portal for retailers to seek registration for multiple license applications has progressed to a point where a Request for Tender (RfT) to design and provide the new service has been prepared, the competition will proceed in November and will be assessed by an external evaluation panel.
Online Trading - The plan to get thousands more small businesses trading online supported by a Government “trading online” voucher is well advanced with a first trial of the trade on-line voucher scheme already commenced. It is based in Dublin, and is administered by the Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB). 50 vouchers will be distributed to successful applicants as part of this trial before a full roll out of a national scheme following feedback from the trial.
JobsPlus Initiative - The early take up of the initiative has been successful with over 1,000 employers and over 1,700 jobseekers applications deemed eligible. Nearly 500 job matches have been made between employers and eligible jobseekers.
Actions due in Quarter 3
In the third quarter of 2013, Departments and agencies were to deliver 122 measures under the Action Plan. Some 20 of the measures due in Quarter 3 2013 have not been delivered on schedule, giving a completion rate of 84%. In delivering 102 third quarter measures under the Plan, the Government has, for example:
§ Met with banks to ensure that the pillar banks are complying with their obligations to sanction an aggregate €8bn to SMEs in 2013, and confirmed that banks are on schedule to meet 2013 targets. (Actions 59, 60)
§ Launched the national Late Payments Information Campaign to highlight the issue of late payments amongst public authorities, businesses and other interested parties. (Action 75)
§ Appointed a Central Technology Transfer Office director
to ensure that the research from Ireland’s third level institutions is fully utilised, leading to further job creation and advancements in Irish industry’s innovative capability. (Action 81)
§ Established a project team within the Marine Institute to lead the development of an Integrated Marine Research and Innovation Plan (2014-20). (Action 114)
§ Started a national broadband mapping exercise which will determine where State intervention is required. (Action 151)
§ Begun the roll-out of the National Metering Programme, with almost 400 new jobs established to date in rolling out the metering programme and the associated call centre. (Action 154)
§ Commenced the introduction of biometric checks and rollout of the pilot common visa programme between Ireland and the UK for tourists and business visitors. (Action 164)
§ Reviewed and enhanced the effectiveness of the visa scheme to attract investors. (Action 218)
§ Commenced the new multi-entry visa regime for regular business and tourist visitors from India. (Action 219)
§ Begun roll-out of the After-School Child Care Scheme which provides after school childcare places targeted at primary school children whose parents have taken up employment opportunities. (Action 235)
§ Invested more than €35m in 13 projects under the Beef and Sheep Meat Capital Investment Fund to support capital investments, that seek to better utilise the overall industry capacity through increased scale in primary processing, increased added value in further processing and improved efficiencies to allow Irish companies compete internationally. (Action 266)
§ Established a new Construction Sector Consultation and Coordination Group as a forum for engagement with the industry to help improve the sector. (Action 292)
§ Progressed the work of the Inter Departmental Group on Retail including meetings with, and submissions from, the main bodies representing the retail sector and other stakeholders, including practitioners, business representative bodies, workers representatives and the INOU. (Action 309)
Impacts
The Action Plan for Jobs is a rolling plan and, above all, a plan that will be judged on its results and impacts. In this context, some early stage impacts are being seen linked to the implementation of measures in the Plan aimed at enhancing the operating environment for firms. For example:
§ An additional 1,150 ICT graduates with awards at honours degree level 8+ will be available in 2013 from the Springboard/ICT graduate conversion programmes and a further 500 ICT graduates with awards at levels 6 and 7. (Actions 13-17)
§ More than 760 new places were made available under the second phase of the ICT graduate skills conversion programmes launched in February 2013. Almost 630 of these places have now been filled. In addition, over 6,000 higher education places for unemployed and previously self employed people have been rolled out under the third phase of Springboard, including over 2,000 places on Springboard ICT courses. More than 5,000 of the new Springboard places had been filled by the start of October 2013. (Action 15)
§ Over 4,000 teachers in 230 primary schools registered for Continual Professional Development (CPD) training in the Discover Primary Science and Maths (DPSM) national programme for 2013/14. This represents a considerable increase in demand from primary schools compared to previous years and is considerably higher than the planned 1,000 places. DPSM is the national programme to foster interest in science, technology, engineering and maths among children in primary schools. Science Foundation Ireland has run Train the Trainer sessions for 17 trainers, and now plans to run additional sessions to meet the significant demand for CPD training places from schools. (Action 96)
§ Over 600 people have engaged with the ManagementWorks training and development programmes to help SMEs to improve their performance through seeking to build their managerial capability. 52% of particpants had not been involved in previous management training programmes. Already 25 companies have reported that participation had led to 27 full-time and 26 part-time jobs being created. A further 180 full-time and 100 part-time jobs had been retained. (Action 130)
§ Close to 400 new jobs have been established to date in rolling out the water metering programme and the associated call centre. The roll-out will lead to considerable new employment opportunities from 2013 totalling 2,000 jobs when fully operational. (Action 155)
§ Ireland was promoted by the enterprise development agencies as a location for overseas entrepreneurs and emerging businesses at Tech Crunch, San Francisco. Tech Crunch Disrupt is an annual technology conference that combines thought-leader discussions with new product and company launches. EI/IDA hosted the speaker’s dinner on the second day of the event, which was attended by 110 high profile people within the tech industry. (Action 183)
§ Of the 10 Female Competitive Start Fund (CSF) applicants that received early stage seed funding in February 2012, a large number of those companies are projected to significantly build their businesses in 2014 and to seek additional HPSU (High Potential Start-up) funding to grow and scale their businesses. Of the 20 Feasibility Grants awarded in 2012 to female entrepreneurs, 8 have had significant growth and have successfully competed and been awarded CSF funding in 2013. (Action 184)
§ 83 new jobs have been created under the Succeed in Ireland initiative by four companies that are establishing new operations in Cork and Dublin; Sound & Sea Technologies creating 55 new jobs in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork; IA (Improv Asylum) Innovation creating 12 jobs in Dublin; Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI) creating 10 jobs; and the Bayne Law Group creating 6 jobs in Cork City. (Action 201)
§ The largest annual gathering of internationalising Irish companies was held in September as part of the International Markets Week. This is an annual event that allows companies to meet the Enterprise Ireland overseas representatives to discuss how each company can be assisted to develop and increase their business in overseas markets. Over 2,200 meetings took place at the event with 647 companies participating. (Action 203)
§ The Youth Day Event took place in May and marked the start of European Youth Week in Ireland. This marked a celebration of quality in Irish youth projects and in international youth work. Some 300 people attended including young people, volunteers, youth workers etc. (Action 234)
§ Some 19 significant investments in the food and drink sector have been achieved in the first half of 2013, of which three are foreign direct investments. Between them, these companies have committed to creating 580 new jobs. (Action 252)
§ Data for the first eight months of the year show the number of visitors to Ireland up by 6.5%. Within this, the number of visits from Great Britain was up by 3.7%, mainland Europe was up by 4.8%, North America was up by 16.5%, while for other long haul markets there was a 11.3% increase. Data for Quarter 1 2013 shows total expenditure by overseas visitors in Ireland (excluding fares) was €541 million, an increase of 12% on the same period in 2012. Tourism Ireland continues to focus on key markets with a new suite of 30 websites (www.ireland.com) in 11 languages being rolled out during 2013. (Action 303)
ENDS