Up to 70,000 jobs have been created under the Government's Action Plan for Jobs, Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton claimed this morning.

He was speaking at the publication of the latest quarterly report on the plan, which evaluates the hundreds of targets and initiatives in the plan.

Mr Bruton acknowledged that with unemployment at 11 per cent “we have a long way to go.”

“But people can have confidence that the plan is working, and if we stick with it we can ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the plan was en route to deliver 100,000 jobs by 2016.

He also noted that 800 new jobs had been announced by multinationals here in the past week and that the budget would help build on the “strong flow of job creation”.

“The Action Plan for jobs is about rebuilding the economy brick by brick, reform by reform, to get back to sustainable enterprise-led growth.”

In the third quarter this year, some 88 of the 100 measures specified were delivered, a success rate of 88 per cent.

Among the measures announced were new supports for start-ups, including the doubling of funding to start-ups from business angel investment.