The Taoiseach has moved to assuage fears in the Irish construction industry, by claiming that job losses in the sector will be cancelled out by employment creation elsewhere.

Bertie Ahern was responding to criticism from his Fine Gael counterpart Enda Kenny, on his governments handling of the economic downturn in the country.

The Taoiseach maintained that the economy would still grow by 3% this year, as predicted previously, adding that net exports were still stronger than imports.

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"Productivity equals jobs, jobs equals investment," said Mr Ahern.

The Taoiseach went on to say there would be 24,000 net new jobs created this year as the workforce would increase by 1%, despite the scaling down in construction.

"Employment in other sectors of the economy are expected to offset it," Mr Ahern added.

Mr Kenny said 1,500 jobs were lost in recent times from various companies across the country.

"People's lives don't lie and they can see the change on the streets," he said.

Mr Ahern also dismissed suggestions from Mr Kenny that he was failing to manage the economy properly.

"I've been doing that successfully for the past 10 years," the Taoiseach replied.

(NS/JM)