The Government has promised it will “do a lot more” to boost jobs as Irish exports hit a record high. Taoiseach Enda Kenny welcomed the new figures showing the value of Irish company exports hitting €18.6 billion in 2014.

"It's an extraordinary figure for a small country," he said, speaking at Enterprise Ireland headquarters in Dublin yesterday. The numbers, published by Enterprise Ireland, revealed an increase of almost 10 per cent from 2013, across all sectors.

"Shaping an export- and enterprise-orientated economy is really another way of how this Government will avoid future booms and busts," Mr Kenny said. "We still have a lot more to do."

Reducing unemployment

He added that reducing the unemployment rate from 10 per cent to 5 per cent would be difficult. He said the Government would help businesses add 40,000 new jobs this year and the same number each year until 2018.

“The plan that we’ve set out will make sure that work pays and that it pays more than welfare, and it reduces the number of working people and their children experiencing poverty,” he said.

Mr Kenny said next year would see more Irish people returning to the State than leaving. “By 2019, there will be more people working in this country than ever.”