25th February 2015
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD today welcomed the official employment figures from the CSO, showing that almost 90,000 additional people are at work today in Ireland compared to early 2012 when the Government launched and started implementing the first Action Plan for Jobs.
At that time the Government set a target of creating 100,000 additional jobs by end 2016.
The figures published today also show:
- Employment has grown and unemployment has shrunk in all 8 regions of the country since the Action Plan for Jobs process started – although as Minister Bruton has repeatedly stated some regions are performing better than others. For example, employment has grown by 12.2% in the South East and by 8.5% in the Midlands over that period
- Consistent with the Government’s plans, the early phases of the employment recovery was mainly in the exporting sectors, but growth is now balanced across the economy, with strong performances in domestic economy sectors such as construction, retail, tourism and domestic financial services
- Employment in 2014 is up by almost 30,000 – within this, part-time employment has shrunk by approximately 10,500 but full-time employment has increased by 39,600
- As announced last month, exporting companies supported by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland and IDA added more than 15,000 jobs in 2014
- The unemployment rate now stands at 10.4% - down from 15.1% in February 2012. The unadjusted unemployment rate at 9.9% is below 10% for the first time since the crisis
- The long-term unemployment rate continued to decline, representing 57.8% of (shrinking) total unemployment, compared to 61.4% a year ago
Speaking today in advance of the publication of the 5-year IDA Ireland strategy, Minister Bruton said:
“Every job created is a life back on track, a family changed, a community improved. And it is job-creation that allows us to grow tax revenues, deliver income tax cuts, improve services and ultimately create a better country for people to live in. That is why we as a Government, led by the Taoiseach, have put job-creation at the heart of everything we do.
“When we launched the first Action Plan for Jobs in the dark days of early 2012 many people criticised us for setting unrealistic ambitions, but it is hugely encouraging that we are on course to hit the target of 100,000 extra people at work 18 months early. We have now moved on to the next phase, and I firmly believe that with the right policies and a stable political environment we can deliver full employment by 2018.
“Today’s figures are hugely encouraging. We have a long way to go and many people are not yet feeling the benefits. However today’s figures give us confidence yet again that the plan is working. The challenge now is twofold – firstly to press on with the plan and ensure that we implement the changes necessary to continue and build on this progress nationally. Secondly, through the Regional Plans, we will ensure that we accelerate job-creation in every region, particularly those where progress has not been so fast.
“We are on the right road. This progress has not happened automatically, and political instability represents a real threat to jobs growth. However people can have confidence that with continued strong implementation of good policies we can deliver full employment by 2018.
ENDS
For further information:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 01- 6312200 or press.office@djei.ie
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