Chambers welcome 'concrete measures for growth and jobs'
Chambers Ireland has welcomed last night’s EU Summit's moves to create jobs in the eurozone.
The association said the summit's conclusions on growth and jobs "are mostly positive" and suggest that Governments are finally "prepared to instigate structural reforms".
In a statement, Chambers Ireland said: "We welcome the proposal to use the EU budget to leverage European Investment Bank financing capacity and thus enhance the capacity of banks to lend to small businesses.
"This is in line with an ongoing European Chambers-led initiative to establish a European Central Guarantee Fund for loans and equity, and should provide relief to businesses in the short term.
They also welcomed the focus on Vocational Education and Training as a key tool for tackling youth unemployment and bridging the skills gap.
They said: "The intention to redirect EU funds to concentrate on apprenticeships and traineeships is welcome.
Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive said: "It will be important for Irish agencies to ensure that this country secures an appropriate tranche of funding under these finance and vocational training initiatives that will further underpin our efforts to rebalance and steady the economy since the downturn started in 2007."
