Annual increase in employment for 1st time since 2008 signals the plan is beginning to work – Donohoe

27th February, 2013

 

Good news comes as 136 additional jobs announced for Dublin

 

Fine Gael Dublin Central Deputy, Paschal Donohoe, today (Wednesday) said the news that an annual increase in employment has been recorded by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the first time since 2008, is further proof that the Government’s plan to get the unemployed off the dole and back to work is bearing fruit.

“Statistics released this morning by the (CSO) indicate that unemployment in Ireland is indeed stabilising. An annual increase in employment of 1,200 was recorded in 2012; the first annual increase in employment recorded since the second quarter of 2008.

“While we recognise that the unemployment figures are still unacceptably high, we are starting to see encouraging signs that the plan is working. The economy is in transition, moving from a phase when our tax intake relied on people buying and selling over-priced houses to one another, to one where we are focused on innovation, building export potential and encouraging and supporting enterprise.

“In the three years before this Government came to Office, 250,000 jobs were lost in the private sector. That trend has now been reversed, with the CSO recording an employment increase in Q4 of last year of 6,500, which builds on the progress made in the previous quarter.

“This news comes on a day when 136 new jobs are to be created in Dublin. Seventy five jobs will be created by global software provider, Guidewire Software in Blanchardstown. The new jobs, which will be in software development and software product management and consultancy, will further cement Ireland’s growing reputation as a leader in ICT development and related services. Sixty one new jobs will also be created at Ecocem Ireland; a cement company based at Dublin Port. The company is planning to invest €19 million in a new plant at the port, signalling the confidence companies have in Ireland as an attractive place to locate and build business.

“The annual increase recorded in employment by the CSO, while very modest at 0.1%, is significant. It is also encouraging that the long-term unemployment rate decreased from 9.1% to 8.2% in 2012. Addressing the unemployment crisis, and particularly getting the long-term unemployed back to work, is the single biggest priority of this Government. Through the Action Plan for Jobs and initiatives such as JobsPlus, which will see the State pay €1 of every €4 it costs an employer to recruit a long-term unemployed person off the Live Register, we will meet the challenge that faces us.

“The recent developments which have seen the toxic Anglo Irish Bank removed from the Irish financial landscape forever, the prom notes being dealt with and the bank guarantee being brought to an end, are designed to restore the economy, encourage investment and get our people back to work. It is clear that this plan is starting to work.”