Unemployment still 12.6%

Unemployed workers are leaving the country or staying on in education, which is why the latest live register figures showing a levelling off are no cause for celebration, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned.

“The latest live register figures are no cause for celebration because workers are leaving the country or staying in education rather than signing on, and jobs are still being lost at record rates. The stark facts are that:

• Unemployment is stuck at 12.6%, the third highest in the eurozone;
• The country is experiencing net migration for the first time since the 1990s, with workers leaving the country rather than joining the dole queues. The CSO reported net migration in the year to April, and the situation has almost certainly deteriorated since then;
• Redundancy figures are still high, showing that jobs are still being lost at a shocking rate. There have been around 6,000 notified redundancies ever month since January;
• And many workers are staying in education rather than signing on.
…[more]

The case for a National Recovery Bank as proposed by Fine Gael is stronger than ever after the Small Firms Association warned NAMA will not be enough to get credit flowing again, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

“There is a growing consensus that NAMA is not fit for purpose. The Small Firms Association has warned that NAMA will not be enough to get credit flowing to cash-strapped small businesses.

“This follows support by Dermot Desmond and Michael O’Sullivan of Credit Suisse for a ‘good bank/bad bank’ solution to fixing the banks, along the lines proposed by Fine Gael. …[more]

Two weeks ago I wrote to NAMA to offer my apartment to them for long-term economic value. Like hundreds of thousands of young people, I am now in negative equity and am facing the spectre of debt deflation – a falling income with rising debt repayments. See my letter and the NAMA response below.

National Asset Management Agency (NAMA)
c/o Dr Michael J Somers
NTMA
Grand Canal Street
Dublin 2

Friday, 11 September 2009

Re: Offer to sell my apartment

Dear NAMA

I would like to offer you the opportunity to purchase my apartment. I bought it in 2004 for €350k. In 2007, it was valued at €500k by a reputable national estate agency. Allowing for a 50% fall from peak property prices it is now worth about €250k.

Using the formula outlined by your chief valuer at to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, I estimate its Long-Term Economic Value (LTEV) to be €420k. I would be willing to sell my apartment to NAMA for this price.

It would allow me to pay off my mortgage and car loan thus satisfying the banks and would leave me with a small deposit which I could use to buy back my apartment with a mortgage I can better afford.

I look forward, anxiously, to your reply

Yours sincerely

Leo Varadkar TD

I got the response last week, which is below or available from this link …[more]

Varadkar calls for clarification from Tanaiste on legal threat aspect to Molloy deal

Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesperson, Leo Varadkar TD today (Sunday) called on Tanaiste Mary Coughlan to clarify whether the former Director General of FAS, Mr Rody Molloy, threatened legal action in advance of receiving a ‘golden handshake’ as part of his resignation deal, or not. Deputy Varadkar was speaking after an interview by the Taoiseach on RTE’s This Week programme.

“The Tanaiste should now clarify if the agreement to the pension top-up deal for Rody Molloy was based on a threat of legal action or not. The Taoiseach’s radio interview contradicts the previous statements she has made and those of her Department’s Secretary General, Sean Gorman, at the Public Accounts Committee.

“The Taoiseach’s continued contention that the payment to Mr Molloy was ‘fair and right’ and in the realm of normal rights and entitlements is astounding when we’re talking about a public servant who presided over flagrant waste at the State Agency.
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40 min delays expected

Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar secured an emergency ‘adjournment’ debate with Martin Mansergh, Minister for the Office of Public Works (OPW), on his decision to close Castleknock Gate to traffic for nine weeks from Monday, September 28th.  The debate was held on Tuesday night on the floor of the Dail.

The gate will be closed to traffic to facilitate flood alleviation works, relaying of a gas main, repairs to the gate and the construction of a permanent roundabout at Mountjoy Cross.  The OPW has predicted delays of 40 minutes in the first few days and 20 minutes throughout the course of the works.  To alleviate traffic, Furze Road will be opened during the course of the works to allow people to drive from Knockmaroon Gate to Chesterfield Avenue (the Main Road) and a one-way system will operate at Ashtown and Cabra Gates.

‘I am very annoyed at the OPW’s decision to close Castleknock Gate for nine weeks.  The Minister made the decision without any consultation with local TDs or councillors.  October and November are busiest months for traffic in the years.  These works should have been carried out during the summer.  I am calling on the Minister to open White’s Gate during peak hours during the course of the works and for the Garda Traffic Corps to take an active role in the managing traffic in the area’, said Deputy Varadkar

…[more]

New laws to rein in State boards

New laws to rein in directors on State bodies like FÁS and the HSE will be debated in the Dáil, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

Deputy Varadkar will present a powerful Fine Gael Bill to change the way that State boards are appointed and ensure they can be held accountable by elected representatives in the Oireachtas.

The Public Accounts Transparency Bill aims to put an end to scandalous spending practices at bodies like FÁS, and to make powerful bodies like the HSE more accountable to elected representatives.

Deputy Varadkar said: ‘More than 7,000 positions on State bodies are appointed directly by the Government. This has allowed a culture of cronyism to flourish, and also means there is no guarantee that the people appointed to powerful State bodies have the appropriate qualifications’. …[more]

Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has said Fianna Fáil is in disarray over the contents of the forthcoming Budget, after Arts, Sport & Tourism Minister Martin Cullen protested vocally about proposed cutbacks in his Department.

“Two days ago Finance Minister Brian Lenihan told us to we read his lips: there would be no tax rises.

“Now Minister Cullen has very publicly said at a meeting attended by influential figures from around the world that he would not tolerate any cutbacks in his own Department.

“He made this remark despite the fact that just one week ago, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said no area of Government spending could be exempt from cutbacks.

“It’s impossible to square these three contradictory statements. The Cabinet is clearly deeply divided about the content of the forthcoming Budget, as well as future fiscal and industrial policy.

“The time has come for a new Government with a new team to take the country in a new direction.”

FÁS Logo

Any clear-out of FÁS apparatchiks must include the senior executives who allowed massive amounts of taxpayers’ money to be wasted on first class flights, expensive hotels and pointless advertising campaigns, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

“Tánaiste Mary Coughlan is still refusing to take the essential step and dismiss the FÁS board. Even worse, Taoiseach Brian Cowen will not support calls for the board to be replaced, probably because this might set a precedent for his own Government.

“I believe there should be a thorough clean-out of senior FÁS executives who allowed the culture of greed and waste to flourish for so long. That is why the forthcoming legislation to restructure the agency must include a provision to replace senior managers who allowed this culture to thrive, as well as the Board.

“We need to see accountability for managers in the public service. Managers who do a bad job should lose their jobs, and managers who are found to have broken the rules or engaged in corruption should lose their pensions too.

“The Comptroller & Auditor General’s report on FÁS is only the latest in a litany of scandals at the agency. Only a complete change of culture at the agency will ensure that this flagrant waste of taxpayers’ money never happens again, allowing FÁS to return to its core remit of upskilling and retraining the hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed.”

Ruling Exposes how Govt./Bankers/Developers Trying to Fool Taxpayer on Assets Value

The Zoe ruling in the High Court today has exposed the conspiracy of silence at the heart of the Government’s bailout of bankers and developers via the NAMA gamble, according to Fine Gael’s Enterprise Spokesman, Leo Varadkar T.D. He was speaking today (Thursday) after the High Court ruled against appointing an Examiner to the Zoe Group of companies.

Commenting on the ruling Justice Clarke said that the accounts presented by Zoe – where they were arguing in a similar fashion to NAMA that their property portfolio would recover in 3-5 years – were “…plain wrong” and had “very many inaccuracies”.

Commenting on the ruling Leo Varadkar said:

“Just like NAMA, Zoe’s figures don’t add up. That is what the High Court’s confirmation of its original refusal to grant the Zoe companies protection from ACC banks means.

“The whole case also reveals the conspiracy of silence that now exists between the Government, large Irish banks and big developers. Despite the fact that Carroll is unable to give any credible evidence whatsoever that his companies can recover and repay their debts, six of the seven banks that have leant about €1 billion to his companies, including the State-owned Anglo Irish Bank, were willing to roll over his interest payments and give him more time.
…[more]

This is one report too many – Coughlan must take action at executive level

Heads must roll on the FÁS board and at senior executive level after the C&AG report confirmed a litany of bad practice and waste of taxpayers’ money in the agency’s Corporate Affairs department, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD said today (Thursday).

“The C&AG’s report confirms shocking levels of waste within FÁS. Accountability for this bad practice goes all the way to the top of the organisation. Taxpayers and the thousands of hard-working FÁS employees deserve no less. Yet no single member of the FÁS board, or anyone at senior management level, has been held accountable.

“The C&AG’s revelations include the spending of €622,000 on nothing, €600,000 on TV advertising which was never broadcast, ongoing overspending, and the payment of €9,200 for a car which was never delivered.

“However, the Tánaiste’s response to the report beggars belief. She seems to think that limited internal restructuring within FÁS, which has an annual budget of €1 billion, is sufficient to prevent this happening again. Nowhere in her statement does she acknowledge the fact that those who oversaw this waste are still in place. …[more]