FF: no jobs, no plan & no hope

Never in the history of the State have so many people been out of work, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD said today as the live register climbed by 13,300 in the last month.

“At the end of last year the Government was trumpeting a slowdown in the number of people joining the live register. Fianna Fáil has successfully thrown this into reverse, with the live register accelerating dramatically back to five figure job losses per month. The increase of 13,341 in the month is a dead cat bounce for unemployment levels. Without the pressure valves of emigration and further education, the live register would now stand at half a million.

“Every job loss is a tragedy for the individual and their family. And this is a tragedy which Brian Cowen has personally presided over. There were 202,000 on the live register when Brian Cowen became Taoiseach. This has more than doubled to almost 437,000 under his tenure.

“The thousands of people losing their jobs and livelihoods won’t take any comfort from Government delusions that the worst is over, particularly when tax revenues continue to plummet and redundancies are soaring.
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Speaking in the Dáil today (Tuesday) during Enterprise questions, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar re-iterated Fine Gael’s call for the introduction of a Government-backed loan guarantee for small & medium enterprises.

“Credit is the lifeblood of the economy but small & medium enterprises are being starved of credit by the banks. There are over 200,000 small and medium firms in the country supporting nearly a million jobs.

“There is some new lending but working capital such as overdrafts are being restricted and the banks are increasingly looking for personal guarantees from owner-directors. The reason is simple: the banks are bust and need to rebuild their balance sheets. As a result, they are unwilling to lend money to small businesses which are regarded as relatively high risk in a recessionary environment.
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Local Fine Gael representatives, Leo Varadkar TD and Cllr. Eithne Loftus have condemned the decision by An Bord Pleanala to grant permission for the building of a major new village centre in Castleknock. This decision was against the advice of the planning inspector who recommended a refusal of permission, and if the development goes ahead, will radically alter the nature of Castleknock Village.

Speaking on the matter, Leo Varadkar TD said “Cllr. Loftus and I are firmly committed to the sustainable and realistic development of Castleknock Village which preserves it character. Unfortunately, this development goes against all of that, and is strongly opposed by local residents. It will increase traffic in the village, cause spill-over parking problems in residential estates and will be an eye-sore.”

Cllr. Loftus said “More than hundred people attended a public meeting we held on this issue back in July, and they were near unanimous in their opposition to this development. This view has been backed up by the hundred of local residents who have on the doorsteps, by email or letter expressed their deep concerns at this proposal.”

“It is deeply unfortunate that An Bord Pleanála has decided to side with the developers once more, rather than with the residents of Castleknock. While there are a number of conditions and restrictions attached to this development, they do not significantly deal with the concerns that both ourselves and the local residents have raised. This is a black day for Castleknock Village.”
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Work to rule will hurt vulnerable

With public sector unions escalating their work to rule this week, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned their action is not an effective way to bring the message home to Fianna Fáil and the Greens, and will have a bigger impact on the vulnerable.

“The work to rule and go-slow which have been stepped up this week will hurt users of public services much more than they hurt the Government. These include children in schools, patients in hospitals, unemployed people looking for jobs and training, and pensioners seeking medical cards or other benefits. It will only serve to deepen the divisions in our society between the public and private sectors.

“Ireland needs public sector reform and savings, but the approach being taken by the Government and unions will make both much harder to achieve.
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Ireland needs new corporate culture

Addressing the Irish Stock Exchange Conference in Dublin, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD called for a new corporate culture to restore Ireland’s battered reputation overseas. Deputy Varadkar addressed the conference on the issue of corporate governance as an invited panellist.

“The reputational damage that has been done to Ireland by the activities of our banks, Government and State agencies has done real damage to Ireland’s reputation overseas. This damage comes at a cost. It is harder and more expensive for the Government to borrow money from the international capital markets. It is more difficult for Irish companies to secure credit from the banks, capital from investors and export credit insurance. And it is harder for Irish companies to sell their goods and services overseas.

“This reputational damage, however, does not have to be lasting damage. We are not alone. Other countries have endured reputational damage too. But it is up to us to put our house in order, to do it quickly and to show the world that Ireland is second to none when it comes to corporate governance, ethics and open Government.

“Yes, we need new laws. We need to restrict the practice whereby CEOs can graduate from management to become Chairman of the Board as occurred at FÁS and Anglo Irish Bank.
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Daft wage system needs reform

Minister Calleary’s reforms are a recipe for fudge

‘Daft’ laws which see hair stylists being paid 6c an hour more than barbers, which fix wage rates for hotel staff in Co. Dublin but not in the city centre, and which limit pay rates for beef butchers but not fishmongers, are being left intact as part of the Government’s much-hyped tinkering with minimum pay and condition orders, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned.

Deputy Varadkar was speaking today in a Dáil debate on the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill.

“Junior Minister Dara Calleary has flunked the challenge to reform the Labour Court’s outdated and cumbersome wage-setting system. This system sets minimum rates, terms, conditions and benefits in the hospitality, grocery, agricultural and security sectors (among others). But it is currently a recipe for chaos. The whole system is outmoded, unrepresentative, cumbersome and restrictive.

“It is costing us jobs in hotels, restaurants and the retail sector. It penalises honest employers and often prevents employees from working when they are willing to do so. You could not make up some of the rulings, which are just plain daft:

• The Hotel Employment Regulation Order applies to Co. Dublin but not to Dublin City, to Co. Cork and Co. Kerry but not in Cork city;

• One set of rules applies to hair salons in Cork, with another for Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Bray. But there are no rules at all for the rest of the country;

• The Retail Employment Regulation Order applies to any shop that sells food items, but not to those that sell only bread, cakes, buns or beef, unless the beef is pressed. It applies to tobacconists but not off-licences;

• The Catering Order applies to pubs in some parts of the country but not others and only to those that sell food as well alcohol;

• Tailors, dressmakers and shirtmakers have different rates of pay;

• The minimum rate for cutting a man’s hair is 6c an hour less than for cutting a woman’s hair, but a unisex hairdresser gets the male rate for all customers.

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Fine Gael TD for Dublin West has welcomed confirmation that Fingal County Council and Castlethorn Construction have agreed terms for the sale of a secondary school site at Kellystown near Porterstown between Castleknock and Clonsilla. The site will be the permanent home for Luttrellstown Community College which is currently operating from temporary premises adjacent to Blanchardstown Hospital. The school will open to residents of Porterstown area.

Contracts are expected to be signed in the coming months. A planning application will follow and it is hoped that new state-of-art school buildings and community facilities will be on site for September 2011, once the issue of road access is addressed.

‘The rezoning of the Kellystown area was controversial. Fine Gael supported it as it was the only way to secure school sites and additional recreational facilities and open space for the area and strictly on the proviso that this would be provided before any new housing. I am pleased that progress is now being made.’

29 school prefabs have been rented out for at least ten years or more according to information revealed by local Fine Gael TD, Leo Varadkar.

Leo Varadkar received the information after Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes TD, tabled several Parliamentary Questions to the Department of Education on the issue.

“The juggernaut of waste from Fianna Fáil and the Department of Education trundles on and it is children, parents and teachers in Dublin 15 that are paying the price.

“Last year, the Fianna Fáil Government admitted that it failed to spend a huge chunk of money set aside for the School Building Programme and, as information Fine Gael has received shows, the Minister continues to squander scarce cash on renting prefabs. …[more]

Luttrellstown Community College is now up and running in temporary premises adjacent to Connolly Hospital. They have approx 60 children in First Year and will take 90 more in September. The school secured an entry in the Young Scientists Exhibition in the first year of its existence. This is a wonderful achievement.

As you know a site for the new school has been identified in the Kellystown/Porterstown area and we are delighted to advise you that terms have been agreed for sale of the land to the council. We are optimistic that contracts will be signed soon and this will allow for a new state-of-the-art secondary school to be built for the area.

The rezoning of the Kellystown area was controversial. Fine Gael supported it as it was the only way to secure school sites and additional open space for the area and strictly on the proviso that this would be provided before any new housing.

Last year, I became the first TD publish details of my expenses and indeed expenditure on my website. There is a public perception that expenses and allowances are some sort of tax free add-on to politician’s salaries. That is not true. While I am sure that there are some people who profit from the current expenses regime, there are probably many more that are left short.

Last April, the Oireachtas gave Brian Lenihan the power to impose a new system of expenses and allowances. He has waited too long. A new, transparent and audited system of expenses and allowances is long overdue. No change, no matter how radical will satisfy the cynics or critics. But a new system will at least allow us to stand over the system and to know in our hearts that nobody is profiting from it.

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