A Budget for Local Jobs, Growth and Stability

Date: 08/12/2010
Posted by: Darragh

I welcome the wide range of pro-enterprise, pro-employment measures contained in Budget 2011, it is a budget for jobs, growth and stability.

The package of measures announced today reflects the Government’s determination to stimulate growth and create jobs. Getting people back to work remains our number one priority - it is the driving force behind everything that we do.

We will continue to spend significant sums on investment to sustain employment and growth. Over €1 billion will be invested in Department capital programmes in 2011 which will support 10,000 jobs.

The labour intensive construction industry will be given a much needed boost by Budget 2011 through the introduction of tax incentives for retrofit scheme and reforming the relevant contracts tax regimes.

It is also extremely important that our corporation tax of 12.5% is being retained. This will help us add to the hundreds of thousands of jobs that we have managed to attract through Foreign Direct Investment.

Other measures aimed at stimulating growth and employment include:

The revamping of the Business Expansion Scheme
The extension of the Employer Job PRSI Incentive Scheme
The extension of the tax exemption scheme for start-ups
The extension of accelerated Capital Allowance Scheme for Energy Efficient
Equipment
The reduction in the travel tax from €10 to €3 Euro

We have also introduced a programme of activation measures to keep those who are unemployed close to the labour force. This means that they will be in a position to take up jobs that will arise as the economy recovers.

5,000 additional places will be provided in the private sector under the skills Development and Internship Programme while 5, 000 places will be provided in the public service under the Work Placement Programme. A further 5,000 places will be provided under the community and voluntary sector under the Community Work Placement Scheme. I will be lobbying the relevant Ministers directly to ensure that North Dublin gets its fair share of these placements.

By investing in local jobs and reducing our deficit, Budget 2011 will go a long way towards advancing the progress already being made in the real economy and the enterprise economy in North Dublin.