Supporting the treaty is a sound investment

IN his letter (January 1), Michael O’Driscoll questions the holding of a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty so soon after the first one was defeated.

I believe this is essential for the overriding reason of job preservation and the creation of new jobs. Our unemployment rate has risen very sharply since the middle of last year and a fall of more than 100,000 in the numbers employed is forecast for this year. There is no time to be lost.

Losing your job results in the loss of income and personal dignity. We owe it to the unemployed to do everything we can to reverse the fall in jobs.

The way forward lies in increasing the output of manufacturing industry — including food processing — and internationally traded services. Only in this way can we eliminate the deficit on our international payments and improve employment prospects. Despite the recession total manufacturing output in Ireland has shown a modest increase in the first three quarters of 2008.

The main contributor to this growth has been foreign direct investment. Winning sufficient inward investment projects to increase employmentrequires the IDA through its excellent work to convince more of these companies that Ireland is a fully committed participating member of the EU. The urgent adoption of the Lisbon Treaty is a top priority in achieving this aim.

Liam Connellan

3a Knocksinna Park

Foxrock

Dublin 18