The Taoiseach has said he believes the economy ‘has reached a turning point’.
Brian Cowen said the challenge now is to move with confidence and ambition into a new phase of recovery and renewal.
Speaking in Athlone to a regional Fianna Fáil meeting this morning, Mr Cowen said that Enterprise Ireland would create 40,000 new jobs over the next five years, leading to the creation of an additional 28,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy.
The Taoiseach said now that there are signs of recovery, the Government's focus will be on helping small firms to grow and create jobs.
During his speech, Mr Cowen said the issue of legal costs needed to be addressed in the context of competitiveness.
He said there are steps which the legal professions could take themselves and a good start would be to benchmark fees charged in Ireland against those in other jurisdictions.
He said the Government would be exploring all options to drive down legal costs.
