Minister Richard Bruton: ‘Full employment’ by the end of 2018

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has claimed that Ireland can achieve so-called ‘full employment’ by the end of 2018, about two years ahead of previous Government estimates.

Mr Bruton made the claim at yesterday’s publication of Enterprise Ireland’s 2014 performance review, which showed a record year for the agency — both in terms of net jobs gain among its client firms and low levels of job losses.

Some 19,705 jobs were created last year by client firms of Enterprise Ireland, the agency in charge of fostering Irish firms expanding abroad. When job losses are accounted for, the net jobs gain for 2014 amounted to 8,476, the highest in the agency’s history. The year also saw the lowest level of job losses since 2000.