The Taoiseach & Tánaiste today (Wednesday) launched the first Annual Report on the Programme for Government agreed in March 2011. The Report provides an account of delivery of Programme for Government commitments during the Government's first year in office.
Speaking at the launch, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD said:
"Our first priority in Government was to restore economic, financial and political stability, and to re-build the international reputation of the country. Today's report reflects that priority. Our bank reforms have stabilised the financial system. Our jobs initiatives have helped to stabilise the employment situation. There are still far too many people out of work, but figures published today provide some encouraging evidence of this stability. This is replicated right across Government. We have made a solid start in addressing the many challenges facing the country and ultimately bringing about Ireland's recovery.
"The country is now moving in the right direction but we acknowledge that we have a long way to go. For the year ahead we are determined to continue to implement our Programme for Government - to work to create more and better jobs and to restore the public's confidence in our economy."
Speaking at the launch, the Tánaiste & Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Eamon Gilmore TD, said:
"Nobody recognises more than the Taoiseach and I, how much more we have to do. Today, the stability that has been achieved is important to families, but stability is not enough. We still have a long way to go to have the kind of impact on people's lives that we aspire to, and that they deserve.
"What has been achieved has not been easy. It has required us to make difficult decisions - decisions that neither of us would ever have wanted to make. But those difficulties are nothing compared to what the Irish people are going through. If we have achieved stability, it is their hard work and sacrifice that has been the key to success.
"Our focus for the past twelve months has been on stability. Our focus for the next twelve months is on recovery. On securing and creating jobs, on making people more secure in their homes, on getting investment back into the country."
Among the Programme commitments delivered are:
The Financial Measures bank re-structuring and recapitalisation programme begun in March 2011, which stabilised the banking system and freed up lending capacity at substantially less cost to the taxpayer than had been originally budgeted for by the previous Government;
Stabilising the live register through the Jobs' Initiative (May 2011), the establishment of NewERA and the Strategic Investment Fund (July 2011) and the publication of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs (February 2012) and Pathways to Work, which have given effect to the vast majority of the Government's commitments in relation to job creation and reducing unemployment;
Improving confidence in the long-term sustainability of our public finances and making more room for growth and jobs through cutting the cost of the IMF-EU bail-out loans by over €9 billion (July 2011);
Exceeding our deficit reduction targets in 2011, and agreeing a credible deficit reduction plan to 2015 that protects growth and jobs by avoiding further hikes in income or corporation taxes;
Protecting the most vulnerable by maintaining primary social welfare rates, excluding the lowest paid from the Universal Social Charge and reversing the cut in the minimum wage.
Clear Government priorities for the next year will include:
Further enhancements to the IMF-EU bail-out to reduce the legacy cost of the bank bail-outs and to free up space for investment and growth;
Meeting our deficit reduction targets, and putting in place credible, long-term budget rules, in a way that underpins confidence and stability and helps free up affordable credit for SMEs and job creation;
Protection of front-line services by modernising public sector work practices and abolishing or amalgamating agencies;
Aggressive implementation across all Departments and agencies of the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work strategies to cut unemployment and to build on recent successes in inward investment;
Giving support and hope to debt-distressed families through targeted additional mortgage interest relief, and a road-map for the most radical reforms in personal insolvency law for over a century;
Financing additional, commercial investment in key economic infrastructures through NewERA, the Strategic Investment Fund and other non-exchequer sources;
Building on recent reforms to the HSE to set out a clear road-map for the introduction of Universal Health Insurance and a fairer, more efficient health system;
Giving the people the opportunity to modernise our system of governance and constitutional rights through the establishment of the Constitutional Convention and the holding of referenda on Children's Rights and the abolition of the Seanad.
Ends
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