Taoiseach Enda Kenny has
said he is confident that the unemployment rate will have dipped below 10 per
cent by the time the next general election takes place in the Spring of 2016.
Mr Kenny was speaking at the
launch of the latest progress report on the Action Plan for Jobs 2103 which
showed that 84 per cent of the 122 measures promised by Government for the
third quarter this year have been completed.
Mr Kenny said the continuing
implementation of the plan in addition to the latest unemployment figures
showed the Government was achieving its aim.
“We have a long way to
travel but we are moving in the right direction,” he said.
Mr Kenny contrasted the
situation at the time the Government took office, where he said that 7,000 jobs
were being lost every month, with today’s figures which showed that 1,200 new
jobs a week have been created over the past 12 months and the unemployment rate
has fallen to 12.6 per cent.
He said the Government would
continue with a new plan in 2014. He and the Tánaiste insisted that the plan
would achieve its aim of creating 100,000 new and additional cards by 2016.
“It’s the start of a
relentless pursuit to create jobs. The action plan is important as all the
pieces of the jigsaw fit together,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said that the
Government had made it clear that the action plan was not a paper exercise.
“We are creating over 1,000
jobs a week which is a good outcome,” said Mr Gilmore which said it was a sign
of joined-up government.
Many of the actions in the
report revolve around plans and reports, or the commissioning of task reports.
Some of those which have been delayed or not completed have been the biggest
ones, including delayed legislation. One of the key ones has been the Bill
which will merge the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority,
which is now promised for publication by the end of the year.
