TAOISEACH Brian Cowen said last night it was “not the position” that a jobs taskforce which was set up in January had met only once this year.
Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time, he said that the work of the taskforce was taken on at ministerial level through the Cabinet Committee on Economic Renewal, which met on a weekly basis.
“The meetings are taking place at Government level on an ongoing basis,” the Taoiseach said.
Asked about the work of the taskforce, he said: “That was set up at a time when we were trying to get going with partnership talks which involve our social partners in various aspects. We have been in touch with the unions and talked with the unions on an ongoing basis during the course of the year.”
Earlier in the Dáil, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said the “main work” of a jobs taskforce was being done by a Cabinet subcommittee.
The issue was raised in the Dáil yesterday by Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter, who asked Ms Coughlan about the taskforce, officially known as the High Level Group on Labour Market Issues. Mr Shatter asked her “to explain why the job creation taskforce has met only once in nine months in circumstances in which we have 420,000 unemployed people in this State”.
Ms Coughlan said “almost weekly discussions” on the issues involved were ongoing. “While much of the work is done by the group, the main work is done by the Cabinet subcommittee.”
Ms Coughlan also said the group had held “a number of meetings”, although it was later confirmed the group had only met once – in mid-January.
The group includes representatives from the employers’ body Ibec, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Farmers’ Association.
Also represented are the Disability Federation of Ireland, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed and the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society.
Bríd O’Brien, who represents the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed on the High Level Group on Labour Market Issues, said the Government was not focused enough on dealing with the unemployment crisis.
“We really need to be meeting on a more regular basis . . . to look at where the jobs of tomorrow are going to be,” she told RTÉ News.
According to information provided by a Government press officer, the group was established under the provisions of the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement which was ratified in October 2008. “The basis of the group was to meet on the outcome of partnership talks – there was no agreement reached.”
A date is not scheduled for another meeting of the group, although “one will be convened should the group’s involvement be necessary to advance the work currently in hand”. Work on labour market issues has now been “taken forward” by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Renewal, the press officer said.