Commenting on the latest live register figures, Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD said: ‘These figures show that unemployment is continuing to rise and now stands at 13.4%, the second highest in the Eurozone. This has trebled since the Fianna Fáil Government was re-elected’.

“The most worrying feature of today’s figures is evidence that more and more people are moving from short-term jobseekers’ benefit to long-term jobseekers’ allowance, as their stamps run out. Overall, the live register has lengthened by 600 but the numbers on jobseekers’ allowance have increased by more than 4,000, to 257,586.

“Put simply, 88,000 people have moved from the short-term unemployment category into long-term unemployment. The social consequences of long-term unemployment are as serious as the economic ones currently paralysing the country. It leads to a loss of hope, destroys communities and causes poverty.

“Yesterday the Government bailed out the banks to the tune of €40 billion. But there has been no bail-out for the unemployed. Indeed, the Government couldn’t even come up with €1 billion to help retain and create jobs, as proposed by Fine Gael.
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If today’s RedC poll results were replicated in a General Election.  It would be nightmare on Lower Mount Street for Fianna Fail.  The result would be FG 72 seats, FF 45, LAB 33, SF 8, Greens 4 and Others 4 – Higgins, O’Sullivan, Lowry and Murphy.  Yes, I’ve been counting chickens again. Read on. …[more]

FÁS now split between three Departments

No Department for Employment or Jobs

Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade and Employment Spokesperson Leo Varadkar TD, who is speaking in the Dáil debate on the reshuffle this afternoon, has accused the Government of forgetting about jobs and described the reshuffle as a ‘botch job’.

“Cowen has abolished the Department of Employment. No Government Department now has employment or jobs in its title when the country is facing the worst unemployment crisis in a generation. He could have combined all employment functions including benefits paid to adults of working age to a new department of employment and benefits.

“This reshuffle is a total botch job. Responsibility for FÁS has been divided among three Departments – Enterprise, Trade & Innovation, Social Protection and Education & Skills. The troubled agency will be overseen by three Ministers who will inevitably pass the buck from one to the other.

“Instead of public sector reform, we have a Junior Minister across three Departments, combining it with his existing responsibilities as Minister of State for Labour Affairs. Alongside this we have a Cabinet committee and a new quango – a Public Service Board. What a joke.”

Tommorrow the Dail is back in session. We will hear all the usual stuff about the TDs being back from their 11 day holiday. Actually, we only missed 3 sitting days and 1 was a public holiday. With the entire government overseas, there would have been little point in sitting in plenary session on those two days. …[more]

Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade & Employment Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has called on Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to explain why she leaked confidential information during an interview in Germany, after she had refused to give the same information to the Dáil.

The Tánaiste gave information about plans to restructure her Department to the Irish Times during an interview in Berlin after she had refused to answer questions about it in the Dáil under the guise of Cabinet confidentially.

On March 16th, the Irish Times carried a front page article written from Berlin by its correspondent Derek Scally. The report informed readers that ‘Ms Coughlan, who is on an official visit to Germany, confirmed yesterday the Government is finalising a plan for a one-stop shop for jobseekers. It would incorporate the functions of the state training agency FAS as well as the benefit-payment functions of the Department of Social and Family Affairs’, and local development social inclusion services provided by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The article goes on to quote Ms Coughlan.

“Remarkably when I asked the Tánaiste during Priority Questions on March 9th in the Dáil about plans to restructure her Department, and explicitly about plans to merge the employment functions with the benefit functions of the Department of Social and Family Affairs (see below), she explicitly refused to answer the question. She said:

‘I have numerous discussions with the Taoiseach on many issues which are the privilege of the Taoiseach and me. Unlike others, I do not discuss them in the public domain, nor will I add to any rumours in the context of the final decision of the Taoiseach. I respect that it is a matter for him’.
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Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has called on the Tánaiste to tell Aer Lingus management that she will not hand over €10 million in taxpayers’ money to subsidise bogus redundancies at the airline.

Earlier this week the airline announced it would lay off a thousand members of cabin crew and hire 750 on inferior terms and conditions. Cabin crew will be paid two weeks per year of service in statutory redundancy, 60% of which the company intends to have refunded from the social insurance fund. Cabin crew with less than two years service will get nothing.

“These are not real redundancies. If the company wants to buy out the terms and conditions of staff it should be done by agreement and the company should use its own resources.

“Taxpayers should not be landed with the bill. This type of bogus redundancy scam has been going on for too long. This is the last straw. The Tánaiste should immediately inform Aer Lingus that on this occasion she will not pay, and that the law will be tightened accordingly.
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FG to question Coughlan on commercial rents in Minister’s Questions today

Speaking in the Dáil during Enterprise Questions this afternoon, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD will call on the Government to bring in new measures to level the playing field between commercial landlords and their business tenants.

“Ireland is uncompetitive and costs are too high. This is driving businesses to the wall and costing us jobs. We all know that. The high costs facing businesses include high property costs. This is in spite of the fact that the cost of property has fallen dramatically since the recession began, and so have commercial rents. However, some landlords, particularly financial institutions are holding out and refusing to reduce rents.

“The landlord drove tenant farmers off the land during the great famine. The financial institutions are driving businesses to the wall during the great recession. Currently, the law favours landlords and Fine Gael is calling on the Government to level the playing field by supporting tonight’s Private Members’ Bill to abolish existing upward only rent reviews and to introduce a register of leases and side agreements, so that there is transparency about rents. …[more]

A new type of social partnership offering universal health care, State-backed pensions and targeted welfare in return for public and private sector reforms is being proposed by Fine Gael Enterprise, Trade and Employment Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD today (Thursday).

Addressing the Industrial Relations News conference in the O’Reilly Hall in UCD this afternoon, Deputy Varadkar TD called for a national effort to restore competitiveness and fiscal balance. Workers would exchange pay moderation, industrial peace and public sector reform for profit-sharing, gain-sharing and social progress from business and Government.

“The opportunity exists for a new government to create a new model of social partnership that is both fit for purpose for the 21st century, and more in keeping with the original principles of partnership.

“I envisage a new social contract, a sort of National Competitiveness and Equality Pact, in which workers deliver competitiveness and reform in the public and private sectors in return for greater equality and social progress. This would take the form of universal health care, universal State-backed pensions and greater protection from unemployment through a new flexicurity-based welfare system. …[more]

Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, Leo Varadkar, has called on the management of Connolly Hospital to change the pay-and-display parking system which is causing problems for patients and visitors. The pay-and-display car parking system is similar to that used for on-street parking in the City Centre. Drivers have to guess how long they will be in the car-parking and pay upfront. This is causing real problems as patients are often left waiting longer than they had expected for appointments. In some cases, patients have lost their place in the queue while they went out to top up their parking.

‘Connolly is the only hospital that I know that uses a pay-and-display system. Most hospitals in Dublin use a ticket system and require visitors and out-patients to pay the correct amount at the end of their stay. This is a much better system. Obviously, we would all prefer to have free parking but with the hospital budget under pressure that is not possible.’

‘I spoke to the Hospital Manager about it during the week and he acknowledged that the new system was not working and that the hospital would move to a barrier system in future but could not say when. In the mean time the hospital has introduced a €5 tag for half-day parking which should cover most people’

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.”