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Economic Recovery Plan published
The Economic Recovery Plan, published in June 2021 as Ireland’s vaccination programme continued apace, promises to fund the next stage of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and to kickstart a “green and digital job revolution”. Rapid job creation and economic growth after the pandemic were the two central tenets of the plan that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was keen to stress at its launch in June. With initial funding of €915 million through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under the European Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the forthcoming revised National Development Plan, the plan pledges to “create a green and digital job revolution” that will see employment levels exceed pre-pandemic levels, with an aim of 2.5 million people employed by 2024. “We will help people return to work through reskilling and upskilling
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opportunities; drive a renewed innovative economy; and invest in infrastructure, housing and reforms for our longer-term prosperity,” Martin said at the launch. “Our core objective is to restore, and then go beyond pre-pandemic employment levels. To not just rebuild, but to build back better.” The four pillars of the Economic Recovery Plan are: ensuring public finances “are sustainable for a lasting recovery”; helping people back into work “by extending labour market supports and through intense activation and reskilling and upskilling opportunities”, driven by Pathways to Work 2021-2025;
rebuilding sustainable enterprises through “targeted supports and polices to make enterprises more resilient and productive”; and a “balanced and inclusive recovery” through strategic investment in infrastructure and reforms that “enhance our long-term capacity for growth, balanced regional development and by improving living standards”. The key points contained within the plan include: • the extension of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), and the Covid Restrictions
