Cork Sinn Féin launches jobs plan

Cork Sinn Féin launches jobs plan October 22, 2012 Speaking at the launch of his party’s job creation plan Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Jonathan O’Brien said: “In the last four years Ireland has shed more jobs than any other western state per capita since the Great Depression. Last year the economy lost 33,400 jobs. In 2011 our communities lost 87,000 to emigration. There are approximately 26,000 people on the live register in the Cork Metropolitan area. Some communities in my constituency have an unemployment rate of close to 50%. We need jobs. We need to stimulate growth in the economy and we need to kick start the private sector.” “People say that the government’s jobs strategy isn’t working. I would go further and say that they don’t seem to have a strategy apart from paying lip service to concept of job creation. They seem more than happy to augment and endorse Troika-led retrenchment. Private investment has reduced by €30 billion. Government has withdrawn €24 billion. “Sinn Fein’s €13 billion stimulus package would be funded from a combination of sources namely the National Pensions Reserve Find (NPRF), The European Investment Bank, the private pension sector, and by not cutting the billions from the capital budget as planned by the government over the next four years. We have met with representatives of both the Irish Pensions Industry and the Credit Union sector and found we that the overwhelming response was centred on creating jobs, growth and investment in communities.” “An investment of this scale would create about 156,000 jobs and retain up to 15,000 existing jobs. Smart investment will secure sustainable jobs and our national competitiveness into the future. “This policy, which recognises the scale of the crisis, will invest in essential infrastructure; help entrepreneurs by removing obstacles to doing business and supporting them to retain and create new jobs; exploit the potential of existing and new state enterprises particularly in broadband rollout, renewable energy and eco-tourism and invest in agri-food and rural communities. ” This crisis was caused, in part, by caused by the collapse in employment when the construction sector and the banks became undone. This was felt as sharply in Cork as anywhere else. The number of people employed in the construction sector, in Cork, fell by 54% between 2006 and 2011. The plan provides solid commitments in terms of the funding re-training and new skills acquisition programmes for those experiencing long-term unemployment” “As part of this we will prioritise investment to: •Revive the sugar beet industry and construct a new bio-refinery plant in the South East with the potential to create 5,000 jobs (€350 million) •Invest in the rollout of next generation broadband across the 26 counties. (€2.5 billion) •Kick start investment in water infrastructure (€500 million.) •Proceed with A5 dual carriageway (€400 million) •Regenerate the Cork dockland area. (€600 million) •Regeneration projects in Limerick and Dublin. (€960 million) •Build an additional 100 schools and refurbish 75 more over the next three years in addition to current capital commitments. (€350 million) •Establish 50 new Primary Health Care Centres. (€250 million) •Develop an €1billion investment in sustainable energy: wind power industry and wave energy. “We will seek to support business to create jobs by: •Introducing a job retention scheme to protect 15,000 jobs (€100 million) •Delivering value for money and jobs by opening up state procurement to small companies. •Giving the option to self-employed people to pay PRSI as it is applied to PAYE employees in order to receive the same entitlements in the event that they become unemployed. •Abolishing upward only rents. •Capping utility costs for a period of three years. •Examine a temporary rebate on fuel for transport firms. •Prioritising prompt payments by ensuring the 15-day rule is adhered to by state agencies. •Examining the use of tax credits for sourcing local Irish produced materials. •Tackling the costs of doing business on the border, including credit card transaction fees, telecommunication charges and dual tax and payroll systems. “Sinn Féin has developed a comprehensive, costed and government-ready proposal to chart a course out of recession and into growth. We want to see the government meet the gravity of the crisis with the appropriate response. Historic levels of unemployment and emigration need a profound shift in government policy.” For further information please contact Deputy Jonathan O’Brien on 0860274142 ENDS