Ulster Unionist Economy spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt, has expressed on-going concern that the Short Term Employment Scheme (now called the Jobs Fund) has created so few jobs in the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise sector of the Northern Ireland economy.
The Strangford MLA was commenting on an oral answer from the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment during Question Time at the Northern Ireland Assembly:
Mr Nesbitt said;
“My Party asked Arlene Foster why so few SMEs have grasped the opportunity to employ additional staff. Her response was to say this was not true, yet she could list no more than 43 jobs created in the indiginous SME sector. Given the scheme has a budget of £19 million, that's over £440,000 a job to date, six months after the scheme was agreed.
"I was talking to a SME owner at the weekend who would love to employ another staff member, but had never heard of the Jobs Fund. I attended today's meeting of the Stormont All Party Group on the Voluntary and Community Sector, at which the Prince's Trust detailed their work with young people Not in Employment Education or Training, the so-called NEETs, and they claim to have received no benefit to their schemes from the Jobs Fund.
Never mind people not working, it appears the Jobs Fund isn't working either.”