I Endorse Jobs Cabinet Strategy For Full Employment in 2018

I fully supports the reforms that were agreed at the Jobs Cabinet meeting held earlier this week, and welcomes the prospect of more jobs in Co. Louth.

I particularly welcome the planned action to support more job creation outside of the main urban centres and new strategies to support tourism which will benefit towns and villages throughout this county. This is good news for people in Louth and I will continue to work to ensure more jobs come to our community.

To date, 80,000 new jobs have been added to the economy since the Government launched its Action Plan for Jobs which, together with other measures, has reduced the unemployment rate to 10.6%, down from the crisis peak of 15.1%.

I am determined to ensure the benefits of the economic recovery are spread to every town and village across the country. I am delighted to see that unemployment was down by 8.27% in Louth in 2014. This government has made jobs its number one focus and we are committed to ensuring more jobs are created in 2015.

The strategy is committed to ensuring 40,000 additional jobs in 2015 and that unemployment falls below 10% this year. I believe these are achievable targets and I look forward to working in delivering on our commitment to get people back to work.