Kenny vows to publish full progress report every quarter

The Taoiseach has promised to publish full details on how many jobs have been gained and lost during his first year in office in a progress report to mark the Coalition’s first anniversary.

Enda Kenny made the pledge as he launched the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, which aims to increase by 100,000 the number of people working by 2016.

He said he could not promise “hand on heart” that this target will be achieved, but believes it is “realisable”.

The Tánaiste and Labour Leader, Eamon Gilmore, also struck a cautious tone, saying there were “limits to what we can do”, but the document reflects “a determination to work at the problem at every possible front”.

The Coalition outlined some 270 “actions” for job creation in the 121-page document, many of which had been announced before.

The Taoiseach accepted that there are “some things in here that have been lying around for a very long time”.

But he said he made “no apologies that, if these are good ideas that were not implemented, there are no reasons why the Government should not implement them”.

Among the new measures to boost job growth are:

* A €4,000 per job “finders’ fee” for anyone who helps a foreign investor to create employment here, by introducing them to the IDA or other agencies.

An operator has been appointed to run this scheme and act as a contact point for potential investors. “It’s aimed at smaller businesses who’d look at Ireland as a gateway to develop their business,” said Jobs Minister, Richard Bruton.

* Encouraging local authorities to “exercise some restraint” in setting commercial rates in 2012.

Asked if this would lead to funding shortages for local councils, Mr Bruton said 38 out of the 50 local authorities have already reduced or frozen their rates.

“Part of the drive here is to make local authorities more conscious of their role in economic development,” he said.

* Requesting government departments to identify charges levied on business that could be frozen or reduced for two years.

* Abolishing city and county enterprise boards and replacing them with enterprise offices in each local authority area.

* A state guarantee of 75% of loans to small and medium businesses.

The Programme for Government agreed between Fine Gael and the Labour Party promised to create 100,000 jobs over five years.

Asked what progress, if any, had been made so far on this pledge, Mr Kenny said he would be publishing “a report on the actions taken by Government close to the date of being a year in office and we’ll have accurate figures on the number of jobs created and the number that have been lost.”

The Government promised to publish a report every quarter to monitor the implementation of its plan.

And Mr Bruton said there will be accountability and “questions asked” if any of the actions promised are not delivered on.