WITH OVER 14,500 people in Limerick still on the live register, there is, according to Cllr Maurice Quinlivan, little confidence that Finance Minister, Michael Noonan’s Jobs Initiative will create any meaningful employment. He criticises the government’s proposals for wage costs and training, rather than the actual delivery of jobs.
Meanwhile, Deputy Willie O’Dea, FF spokesperson on Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation,
says that In spite of talking about a ‘joined-up’ initiative, the detail that is emerging suggests that the manufacturing and export sectors were explicitly excluded from the initiative and the minister responsible for these areas had his suggestions ignored.
Likening the government’s plan to spend €135million on capital projects, to Fianna Fail-type politics, of announcing the same projects numerous times, Cllr Quinlivan says that €106m of the €135m announced is from existing allocations.
“This means there will only be €29m of additional expenditure in this area, which will do little to tackle unemployment or give a job to many of the 439,571 currently without work, and considering the level of immediate job growth that could be delivered in this area, the government’s unwillingness to significantly increase investment in labour-intensive capital projects is nothing short of scandalous”.
Insisting that the only way to get the economy back on track is to invest in a major stimulus package, he said Sinn Fein’s aim is to save and create jobs and assist small and medium-sized businesses.
“A stimulus in the order of €2.9 billion over the next 12 months is not only affordable, but is urgently needed and would not only get people back to work, but assist in reducing the deficit by increasing tax revenue and reducing social welfare expenditure,” he asserts.
He added that Sinn Féin would use €2 billion from the National Pension Reserve fund to fast track labour intensive infrastructure projects such as Limerick Regeneration, as well as school and hospital building and upgrading of the water infrastructure
“The policies of austerity have failed us and clearly have not worked – we need a new approach, a positive growth and reduction of the deficit which can only be done by investing in jobs, boosting consumer spending and strengthening the local economy’.
Describing the Minister’s package as “disappointing,” Cllr Quinlivan said it lacks imagination and fails to adequately recognise the scale of the jobs crisis facing Limerick city.
“The €2.9 billion stimulus package we propose is a credible alternative which, if implemented, would start to get Limerick back to work”.
