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Statement by the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore following today’s Jobs Cabinet

"Today's Jobs Cabinet was an important opportunity for the Government to take stock of where we stand on our number one priority - Job Creation - and to plan for the next steps forward”, the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, TD, said today (Thursday February 5th 2014).

“Recent news on the jobs front has been encouraging. A further fall in the seasonally adjusted register yesterday confirms the downward trend in unemployment. In the month of January some 7000 job vacancies were advertised. But we cannot be complacent. Unemployment is still far too high. Exiting the bailout and economic recovery are only real when they improve the lives of hard pressed families. And the first and most important way to achieve that is by creating more jobs”, the Tánaiste said.

“As we have seen in recent weeks, the export led recovery is continuing as we attract more inward investment, evidenced by the recent series of very welcome job announcements. A key focus of the cabinet discussion, was how we can do more to translate that growth into more jobs in the domestic economy. The critical next step is to see growth in exports translated into further jobs in the real economy, such as in construction and retail. Those sectors are particularly jobs-rich, and fit the existing skills of many people currently without work.

“A major challenge is to revive activity in residential construction. After a long period of slump, there is growing evidence that the housing market is turning. The total number of houses being built in Ireland is now below the level of long-run demand. There is potential to create some 12000 extra jobs in construction by tackling this deficit. We are drawing up a strategy to address the needs of the construction sector

“We are also moving to improve support for local businesses. This is a critical part of the domestic economy with significant employment potential. To meet this need we will be rolling out the Local Employment Offices to provide better support to small firms.

“I am particularly pleased that we are announcing a Youth Enterpreneurship Fund. This is a strong complement to the Youth Guarantee Strategy and reflects our determination that a generation of young people will not be left behind as the economy recovers.

“Ireland should be the best place in the world to have a job and raise a family. As we exit the bailout, Government is clearly focused on the next steps to achieving that goal.”