Social Justice Ireland to present pre-budget submissions

The Government should create 100,000 part-time jobs for long-term unemployed people, as part of an effort to rebalance the impact of the budget, according to Social Justice Ireland.

The group said beneficiaries of such a plan should not lose their social welfare entitlements.

The proposal is part of a pre-budget submission Social Justice Ireland willl present to an Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection today.

The group is insisting that the Government does have choices with regard to the upcoming budget, and can achieve the necessary savings of €3.8bn, while still protecting the poor and vulnerable.

It is also proposing a number of other measures, for example that the budget include an increase in the total tax take - but not in income tax - of €2 for every €1 cut from public services.

"We have to take other initiatives to ensure that we can actually increase job creation in Ireland," added director Dr Sean Healy.

"We are recommending that Government buy back the ICC Bank as a bank specifically for small and medium enterprises.

"At this moment, that's a huge gap."