Funding and jobs questions raised over plan

A €2.25bn Government economic stimulus package was hit by serious questions last night as to how many jobs it would create, what number would go to foreign workers, and how the project would be paid for.

At a high profile launch, Enda Kenny said the investment in roads, schools, health and gardaí projects would bring 13,000 jobs, mainly in the construction industry.

But opposition parties queried the figure and suggested most would be temporary and not materialise for two years or more — and the confusion was added to by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar who claimed his €875m section of the project could produce up to 14,000 jobs on its own.

Mr Varadkar said a number of contracts were likely to go to foreign firms who would bring in workers from abroad.

The minister said he would like to see clauses in contracts that such firms had to employ certain numbers of people from the live register, but added: “I wouldn’t want to promise that could be done.”

Opposition parties dismissed the announcement as “spin-driven” and also raised doubts about how the package would be funded after they claimed ministers had not provided enough details.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said funding had been set-up so as not to impact on general government debt and was in addition to the €17bn capital infrastructure programme announced last autumn.

Mr Howlin said money will come from loans from the European Investment Bank, €850m from the sale of State assets, the National Pensions Reserve Fund, domestic bank loans and other “potential” private investment sources.

The Taoiseach said “shovel ready” projects were being green lighted and would proceed as funds became available and as public private partnership contracts were agreed.

Some €875m will be pumped into various road projects. The package also contains €280m for the education sector to provide 12 new or replacement schools in Cork, Clare, Kildare and Louth. The Dublin Institute of Technology will see its Grangegorman campus hub prioritised with a Luas line to the site.

The health element sees €115m for some 20 primary care centres, and €190m has been allocated for the justice sector.

This will include investment in the State pathology laboratory, and some new garda regional divisional headquarters.

Fianna Fáil’s public expenditure spokesperson Sean Fleming branded it a “spin-driven” investment announcement that used money that should go to creating immediate, longer term, jobs.