Attacking Radical FG Jobs Plans No Substitute for Absence of Jobs Strategy from FF/Green Govt

The continued attacks from Government sources on Fine Gael’s radical NewERA jobs plan, while undoubtedly satisfying some of the political appetites within Fianna Fáil, is no substitute for the absence of a jobs plan from the Government which has resulted in almost 439,100 people being on the Live Register, according to Fine Gael’s Enterprise Spokesman, Leo Varadkar TD.

“The Government’s attacks on Fine Gael’s radical jobs plan would be laughable if their own non-existent jobs strategy wasn’t so damaging for the 439,100 people now signing on. While these attacks may distract some people from the Government’s own dismal failures, Fine Gael is determined to see our plans to overhaul our economy implemented as quickly as possible. The hundreds of people that have attended each of our NewERA meetings in Roscrea, Naas and Dundalk all recognise the new opportunities NewERA brings and want to see it become a reality.

“I understand why the Government doesn’t want to talk about its own jobs record but the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives they have destroyed deserve some hope and some sense of a Government with a vision for the future. Fine Gael has that vision for a modern, competitive and green economy.

“We know that major finance houses like Davy’s and NCB are looking to invest in projects like NewERA and the European Investment Bank has told us that these are exactly the types of investments that they are interested in. The Construction Industry Federation has run the rule over our jobs predictions and notable economic commentators like Eddie Hobbs and David McWilliams recognise the merit of our plans. Indeed, two key think-tanks have also endorsed the thinking that underlines NewERA. John FitzGerald of the ESRI has called for the creation of a single Irish water utility, while economic and social think-tank Tasc has endorsed the concept of using State-owned enterprise to borrow to build infrastructure to stimulate the economy.
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We gather today during difficult times for our nation. Since we last met in Wexford, less than five months ago, 100,000 people have lost their jobs. That’s roughly one person every two minutes. Unemployment in Ireland now stands at 11%, the third highest in western Europe. Twelve years ago, when this party left office, it was at 10% and falling. Every week, we welcomed the creation of 1,000 new jobs.

In little more than two and a half years, Fine Gael in government reduced unemployment by one third. And by rebuilding that economic model, we can do again.

This year, Ireland will borrow €18 billion just to pay our bills. We have the biggest Budget deficit in the eurozone and one of the biggest in the world. Economists, the ESRI and other learned institutions divide that deficit into structural and cyclical parts. A cyclical deficit of about €6 billion caused by the international financial crisis. And a structural deficit of about €14 billion that was created here at home.

Delegates, the structural deficit is the Fianna Fáil deficit, caused by a decade of mismanagement, profligate spending, waste and unsustainable tax policies.

In government in the 1990s, Fine Gael closed the last Fianna Fáil deficit and balanced the Budget for the first time in a generation. And by rebuilding our public services from the bottom and rebuilding our tax system from the top down, we can do it again.

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Fine Gael Dublin North Deputy, Dr James Reilly TD, and Dublin West Deputy and Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesperson, Leo Varadkar TD today (Wednesday) said the Government should ensure that all potential investors interested in SR Technics are introduced to the workers as well as being directed by State Agencies to the company’s Zurich head office.

Deputy Reilly said: ‘The current situation where the IDA and Enterprise Ireland are directing interested investors to SR Technics only is most unsatisfactory. It is quite clear that the management of SR Technics in Zurich have no interest in the Dublin facility. This was shown quite clearly when they declined an invitation to attend the Dáil transport committee. The workers and local management are the key interests in saving jobs at the facility and it is essential that they are introduced to all interested parties.’

Deputy Varadkar, who raised the matter in the Dáil this week, said: ‘I am appalled at the treatment SR Technics has meted out to its employees in its refusal to honour its commitments in the pension fund and in the paltry redundancy offer. SR Technics clearly has an agenda which involves closing down a potentially viable operation and shifting its business to the Middle and Far East. Where supports can be offered, they should be offered. And where supports would be offered to a foreign direct investor, there is no reason that similar supports could not be offered to a management buy-out team or a similar investor who might be in a position to save this industry and these jobs.’

Last week, Fine Gael devoted its Private Members time to a motion on the current unemployment crisis. My speech on the debate can be found below the fold, while the debate in full can be accessed from the Oireachtas website (the debate was over Tuesday and Wednesday).

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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]

Image via WikipediaFG to force Dáil Debate on rising unemployment crisis

Leo Varadkar TD, the Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesperson, has announced his Party will bring forward a Private Members’ Motion in the Dáil next week calling on the Government to face up to the spiralling unemployment crisis with new measures on training.

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Govt fingered on competitiveness as Ireland languishes in 22nd place – Varadkar

The World Economic Forum has pointed the finger of blame firmly at the Fianna Fáil Government for Ireland’s poor performance in the latest Global Competitiveness Report, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has said.

“Ireland is stuck in 22nd place in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings with the Fianna Fáil Government taking the lion’s share of the blame. The report is scathing about the ‘three Is’ which are holding Ireland back: inadequate infrastructure, high inflation, and inefficient Government bureaucracy. …[more]

Fine Gael Spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD (Dublin West), has accused Tánaiste Mary Coughlan of turning a blind eye to the alarming rise of youth unemployment.

According to figures (see below) provided to Fine Gael by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, people under 35 now make up more than half (52.9%) of the total number of people who were added to the Live Register in the past year. The figures also show that there are now 97,071 people under the age of 35 who are on the live register, the highest figure recorded since records were fully computerised in 2003 and that the number of people in the 20 to 34 age group who are unemployed has increased by 45% in the past twelve months. …[more]

Today’s report from NCB on the state of the Irish manufacturing sector suggests that the Irish economy could already be in recession, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

“Fianna Fáil and Brian Cowen in particular could have used the last ten years to lay the foundation for future growth by investing in infrastructure and education and by preparing Ireland for a downturn. Instead they squandered the boom through massive public spending increases that did not deliver any improvements in public services, refused to engage in serious public sector reform, and did nothing to arrest the appalling slide in economic competitiveness. …[more]

Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Dr Leo Varadkar TD has welcomed Dublin Chamber of Commerce’s proposals to transform Dublin into a ‘knowledge city region’ by 2012 and pledged Party support for many of its recommendations.

Deputy Varadkar said the report on ‘Developing a Knowledge City Region’ is an important reminder of the scale of the task facing Ireland after years of Government inaction. He will represent Fine Gael at the Chamber of Commerce seminar to be held in the Digital Hub on Wednesday morning.

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