Ireland must become obsessed with creating jobs, says Bruton

IRELAND must become “jobs obsessed” to get people — and the country — working again, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has said.

Mr Bruton, who said he would publish what is to be the first of the Government’s annual job strategies at the end of this month, said tackling unemployment must be top of the national agenda.

“It’s vital that Ireland becomes obsessed with jobs.

“That is the key challenge that we all must take on — creating the opportunities for jobs. It has to be our primary driving ambition.”

He paid tribute to the efforts of the Industrial Development Authority, which succeeded in growing job creation among multinationals here, despite what he acknowledged were difficult circumstances.

“Everyone knows that this is going to be a challenging year. There is a lot of uncertainty in the European markets and a lot of uncertainty globally. But it’s very heartening to know that the IDA has built a strong pipeline of investments and can enter this year confidently.

“It’s this confidence and ambition that must be the hallmarks of Ireland over the coming years.”

He repeated the Government’s insistence that Ireland’s favourable corporation tax rate — credited with attracting much of the foreign investment here — would not be given up under EU plans to standardise tax regimes across member states.

“The Irish Government has made their position absolutely clear and that has been recognised in Europe. It is an area in which Ireland has a veto. There will be no change to the corporation tax rate.”

He said Europe recognised that the 12.5% tax rate was crucial to Ireland’s recovery and thus the country’s ability to repay EU and ECB bailout loans.

“It would be absolutely ridiculous to consider any change in what makes Ireland most attractive. That is vital to our ability to meet our obligations. I do not see a threat to it,” he said.

Mr Bruton also had a message for this year’s Leaving Certificate students as they prepared their applications for universities, telling them to study the IDA’s records and look at the areas where jobs exist and are being created.

“Traditionally in Ireland people looked to the professions in the relatively sheltered parts of the economy as ones that represented the best opportunities for their young people.

“The very strong message here is that the strong career opportunities are in very different areas — technology, sciences, software development — all very vibrant sectors.

“As people are approaching the CAO time, it’s important that they recognise the change that’s happening in the Irish economy and the kind of companies that are being successful.”