The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe has called on the Union of Students (USI ) of Ireland to get behind ‘decisive government efforts’ to protect and create jobs.
Responding to criticism from students this week that the Government is doing little to stop the flood of young people out of Ireland in response to the current jobs crisis, Minister O’Keeffe claimed that efforts were now underway to create over 300,000 new jobs on the Irish market.
“I have secured increased investment on enterprise and job creation initiatives under the six-year capital review plan announced last week. Under the plan, the Government's job creation agencies are targeting 270,000 plus jobs over the period. A further 30,000 jobs will be supported annually under the capital infrastructure programme while some 10,000 jobs will be created through retro-fitting and energy projects.
‘I am also working with the Minister for Social Protection on measures to take some 60,000 people who are on a three-day week off the live register and I am examining how barriers to graduates or others taking up offers of job placements can be removed.”
The Minister added that the Government is strongly pressing the banks to lend to viable small businesses.
“We are grant-aiding high-potential start-up firms with an extra €55 million in funding over the next six years and driving the creation of “smart” jobs by investing in venture capital and innovation initiatives,' said Minister O’Keeffe.
He said the Government’s strategy is as much about creating new jobs as it is about supporting unemployed workers so that they can get back into the labour force as the economy turns.
“Our training programmes and extra places in further and higher education are re-skilling our workforce to take up new jobs in growth areas of the economy. We have increased the number of training supports from 66,000 in 2008 to over 160,000 this year.
“That includes an extra 9,000 FÁS training places, 23,300 places on the community employment scheme, and 2,000 places on the work placement programme which provides up to nine months’ work experience for unemployed workers, including graduates.
“Under the Employment Subsidy Scheme, we are investing over €130 million to support more than 1,600 firms that have committed to maintain over 80,000 jobs while the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund supported over 7,500 jobs last year. Our policies are helping Ireland to emerge from recession and to avoid another period of protracted recession,” the Minister concluded.
