Fine Gael to create new economic unit in Kenny’s department

Taoiseach to commit to employment equality between regions

Fine Gael is planning to establish a unit within the Department of the Taoiseach to implement its economic policies and create jobs if is it is re-elected.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is due to announce the plan today, along with a promise that the unemployment rate in all regions will be within 1 per cent of the national average within four years.

The Opposition has accused the Government of presiding over a two-tier recovery with regional discrepancies in job-growth, a charge rejected by the Coalition.

At his weekend ardfheis Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said divisions between those in secure and insecure employment were "growing all the time, as are divisions between and within the regions".

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Mr Kenny will say Fine Gael will create an additional 200,000 jobs by 2020, adding: “With these plans we expect to see unemployment in all regions to be within 1 per cent of the national average by 2020.”

The moves are contained in the latest Coalition “Action Plan for Jobs” for this year, which will be published today. It will commit to creating an additional 50,000 jobs by the end of the year.

Fine Gael is promoting its “Long Term Economic Plan” as a central plank of its election manifesto, and Mr Kenny will create a new unit within his department to oversee its implementation. It will be called the “Long Term Economic Plan Delivery Unit” and the creation of 200,000 new jobs within 2020 will be one of its central tasks.

Over Christmas Mr Kenny backtracked on a commitment to deliver full employment by 2018 and pushed the target date back two years. The Coalition had initially said it would achieve full employment by 2020, but brought this target forward to 2018 following a special Cabinet meeting on jobs last January.

Among the measures in today’s plan is an aim to double the intellectual property outputs from businesses.

It will also commit to having all “significant” State transactions with businesses online by November 2017.