Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has described the loss of 785 high-value jobs at Pfizer as ‘a meltdown in the multinational sector’.

“This is a terrible day for Ireland and its multinational sector. Ireland is taking a much bigger hit than other countries, with three of the eight sites that are being ‘exited’ located in this country. Some 785 of the 6,000 jobs being lost are based in Ireland.

“Pfizer is also shedding jobs in the US, UK, Germany and Puerto Rico. However France, Sweden, Spain and Australia are not affected.

“The scale of the lay-offs in Ireland alone should send a clear signal to Government that it cannot afford to ignore Fine Gael’s warnings about Ireland’s lack of competitiveness any longer.

“Fine Gael is calling on the Government to immediately adopt our plans for a National Competitiveness Action Plan to improve infrastructure and reduce the cost of doing business, which would include the following elements:

 

• A reduction in all Government and local authority charges of roughly 5%;

 

• A reduction of Government regulated prices like telecoms and energy;

 

• A PRSI waiver for new jobs;

 

• The implementation of Fine Gael’s NewERA plan to improve energy and telecoms infrastructure across the State;

 

• No further reduction in the capital budget; and the

 

• Introduction of emergency measures to save jobs and retrain the unemployed such as work-sharing, internships and second chance education.

 

It’s time for Govt action, not ‘old rope’

“While I very much respect and value the work that has been done by the IDA over the years, no amount of reports, task forces, or strategy documents will fix our broken economy and get Ireland back to work,” Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD said today (Tuesday) after the IDA published its new strategy.

“This strategy proposes to keep taxes low, reduce our costs, invest in education, and build a modern infrastructure. This is all old rope and we’ve heard it all before.

“What we need is action and leadership from the Government. If they won’t act, they should move aside and allow Fine Gael to take up the reins of power. Then we will implement our costed and well-received policies such as:

 

• NewERA, to stimulate the economy and build a modern infrastructure;
• The Third Way, to improve third level education;
• And a National Competitiveness Action Plan.

“Moreover, while foreign direct investment will continue to be an important part of our economy, we need to refocus more on supporting indigenous Irish enterprises, and transforming them into market leaders, exporters, and global companies in their own right.”

Fine Gael’s Spokesman on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD, today (Sunday) said the 2008 IDA survey of multi-nationals based in Ireland has been released to Fine Gael under the Freedom of Information Act.

“This survey reveals that 45 percent of multinationals based in Ireland would not come here again. The survey cites high costs and poor infrastructure as the main reasons. …[more]

Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has called on the Government to carry out a full survey of vacant IDA Ireland properties and unused IDA lands with a view to making them available for alternative use.

“Department of Enterprise figures show that IDA Ireland currently owns over 1,000 acres of undeveloped land across Ireland. Some of this land is located in rapidly developing areas around towns and cities where there is an acute shortage of land for schools, social and affordable housing, playing pitches and allotments.

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