"TARGET SPECIALIST SECTORS FOR JOBS" - The Government's jobs plan aims to create 100,000 new positions by 2016 and a further 100,000 by 2020.
The 2012 Action Plan for Jobs contains 270 measures that are to be implemented across all government departments and state agencies this year. Old and new industries are being targeted.
Recruitment firm CPL's Peter Cosgrove said it was positive to have a vision, and he welcomed plans to engage the diaspora in efforts to create jobs.
Asked about the "finder's fee" for people who brought jobs to Ireland, he said it was small measure, but it would help.
Mr Cosgrove said it was important to focus on specialist jobs in areas such as agri-food and technology, and that this would lead to more jobs "downstream" in other parts of the economy, adding that jobs in areas such as construction were not going to come back.
He said the biggest need for upskilling was in technology.
