Opposition claims jobs strategy ‘does not stand up to scrutiny’

THE Government’s claim that a series of job creation opportunities exist that could re-ignite the economy fails completely to stand up to scrutiny, the opposition has said.

On a day when the unemployed, pensioners, public service workers and those dependent on the health service were told to take financial pain for the country’s future, Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted the situation would not last forever.

Flanked by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and Green Party leader John Gormley, he argued that social welfare “reform,” a drop in the minimum wage, export growth, tourism, and areas such as the green economy, could help bolster Irish finances.