Job creation plan urgently needed, says Ó Caoláin

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has today called on the Government to instigate a job creation plan to deal with the worsening economic situation.

Speaking during the Dáil debate on the economy this morning, he also called for a reduction in VAT, investment in indigenous companies with a focus on Irish exports and the protection of vital public services.

“We are in the biggest economic crisis in this country since the 1930s,” said Ó Caoláin.

“People are hugely concerned about the future. But they are also very angry and I don’t think this has been stressed enough. People I meet every day are incensed at what has happened because they know where responsibility lies.

“We have to learn the lessons of those failed policies if we are going to find a way out of this crisis. The Government must prioritise jobs, infrastructure and public services.

“We urgently require is a plan to create jobs in the short and medium term. Jobs are being lost for the simple reason that people do not have money to spend.

“We can see this in the number of companies going into receivership in both the retail and manufacturing sector. Consumer spending must increase to save these jobs and to start returning revenue to the exchequer in the form of VAT. There needs to be a stimulus package that protects the wages of those on low and medium incomes, reduces VAT and ensures that reductions in oil prices are passed on immediately.

“With unemployment currently standing at 300,000 and thousands of jobs being lost every week, the Government’s options for raising revenue will continue to be seriously curtailed unless a strategy can be put in place to put more people in employment, thereby increasing direct revenue returns and lessening the pressure on public resources through social welfare.

“This means developing an export led economy; currently over 90% of exports are from foreign owned companies here, not indigenous companies.

“In conclusion I stress the need to defend vital public services in health and education. Little has been said about the cuts that have already taken place and that have damaged our health and education systems.

“These cuts are penalising the less well off, the people being thrown on the dole queue, the people waiting up to 11 weeks to get Jobseekers Allowance, the families struggling to meet medical bills and older people existing with minimal services.”