80,000 more people at work, an increase in full time jobs and growth outside of Dublin – Corcoran Kennedy

Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Jobs Committee, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy has welcomed the latest official CSO employment figures which indicate that growth in the economy is spreading outside of Dublin and that more people are now in full-time employment.

“Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs by Minister Richard Bruton in 2012, 80,000 more people are at work and in the last year alone, 27,700 entered the jobs market, with 94% of those securing full-time employment. It is extremely positive to see that people are not only getting work, but also that this work is full-time.

“The economy is growing and more people are starting to feel its benefit as today’s figures confirm that employment increased in seven out of eight regions over the past quarter, with strongest increases in the West, the Border counties and the South East. Now that regions outside of the capital are beginning to benefit from the economic recovery, I expect that this will spread to other regional areas, including the midlands where the Action Plan for Jobs will shortly launch its Regional Enterprise Strategy.

“The unemployment rate has fallen to 10.9%. It is still too high but due to the hard work and sacrifice of the Irish people, things are moving steadily in the right direction. This Government is working to build a sustainable economy and the fact that job increases are particularly strong in the domestic economy in areas such as construction and retail means we are driving a home-grown recovery.

“Today’s figures confirm again that the plan this Government has adopted is working, but there is more to do. We want to ensure that people across the country are better as a result of the improvement in the economy. Following changes announced in Budget 2015, a single worker on the average wage of €35,000 will get tax cuts of €400, a married couple with two kids earning €55,000 and €50,000 will be over €1,040 better off next year and a single person on the minimum wage will get a tax cut of €173.

“This Government is pursuing a policy of job creation and of making work pay. Our goal is to ensure that there are job opportunities in all regions of the country and that people who take up these positions are better off.”