SF proposes €13bn jobs stimulus plan

Sinn Féin has published a jobs plan which proposes a €13bn stimulus package aimed at creating more than 150,000 jobs.

The party said it was clear the Government’s austerity policy was not working and that large-scale investment in the economy was crucial.

The plan proposes a range of broadband, energy, road, water, and health projects across the country, as well as regeneration schemes in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick.

In addition to new projects, it also proposes various measures to help existing businesses.

The party says it would abolish upward-only rent reviews, even though the Attorney General has advised the Fine Gael-Labour Coalition that this cannot be done.

Sinn Féin also says it would cap utility costs such as electricity and gas for three years so that businesses could plan with certainty.

The detailed 60-page plan will be seen as Sinn Féin’s response to accusations that the party is policy-light.

However, the party has yet to set out some of the detail relating to the funding of the stimulus package.

Sinn Féin says the €13bn would come from a number of sources. About €5.8bn would be taken from the National Pension Reserve Fund, €1.54bn would be drawn down from the European Investment Bank, and the party says it would secure a €3bn investment from the private pension sector.

The remaining €2.6bn stems from capital budget cuts already announced by the Government with which Sinn Féin says it would not proceed.

Sinn Féin says it would replace the €2.6bn cut to the capital budget with alternative spending cuts and tax hikes that will be announced next month in the party’s pre-budget submission.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we will have a fully costed pre-budget submission which will identify where the money will come from,” the party’s enterprise spokesman, Peadar Toibín, said on the €2.6bn figure.

He said it was important to understand the context the country was in, saying 237 firms had closed in the past week alone and nine people were emigrating every hour.

“Over the last four years, this State has lost more jobs per capita than any other Western state since the Great Depression.

“It has also seen 87,000 people emigrate last year. Now, that is the highest figure, amazingly, since the 1800s.

“The policies that this Government have got involved in have actually prolonged and deepened the recession.”

He said his party’s plan would see investment in essential infrastructure, help entrepreneurs by removing obstacles to doing business, and exploit the potential of existing and new state enterprises, particularly in broadband rollout, renewable energy, and eco-tourism.

* Read more here