Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has said the unemployment rate is "far too high".
However, Mr Bruton said that Ireland is seeing growth in private sector unemployment, exports and international investment.
He said that there is still a lot of groundwork to be done to reach the target of 100,000 extra people at work by 2016.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister Bruton said competitiveness has to be rebuilt.
He said that measures such as the Personal Insolvency Bill to help people struggling with debt have to be put in place.
The Minister said that he can understand the frustrations that are out there, adding that he too is frustrated that the Government "can't deliver faster or better".
However, Mininster Bruton said that over the last 15 months, some headway has been made in helping get the country back on track.
