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In the absence of any proactive jobs plan Ireland will suffer from a new generation of long term unemployed. Fine Gael has worked to produce a range of practical plans that will get Ireland back to work.

Ireland’s recovery will be dependant on addressing both the national finances and the huge unemployment problem. To date the Government has been totally obsessed with balancing the books and has turned a blind eye to the burgeoning dole queues.

By its own admission (Budget 2010), Government policies will lead to the loss of a further 65,000 jobs in 2010 – a total loss of almost 300,000 jobs in the three years since it was re-elected.
The number of unemployed in Ireland has tripled in as many years and we now have an unemployment rate of 12.5% which is the second highest in EU.
The huge loss of jobs has resulted in more than 434,700 people seeking State support on the Live Register, the highest figure ever.
Ireland now faces the prospect of a lost generation as there are now 86,700 people under the age of 25 on the Live Register with many more choosing to emigrate in the search of employment.
Unemployment is higher now than when the government came to power in 1997.

Fianna Fail has once again brought Ireland to the edge of an economic abyss. Brian Cowen’s “bubble economy” came at the expense of rising household debt and deteriorating national competitiveness. When the construction boom crashed the resulting job losses spilt into other sectors in the economy. There is no Government plan to restore jobs or to help the hundreds of thousands who now find themselves stuck on State support.

FG Jobs Plans:

Fine Gael has produced a comprehensive and costed economic stimulus package called NewERA. It will use a restructured Semi-State sector to drive new badly needed investment in key areas such energy, communications and water. During the four year building phase of the plan up to 105,000 jobs will be created in the economy. It has been welcomed by some independent economic commentators such as Eddie Hobbs who described it as ‘the best thought out strategy in town.’
A new plan entitled ‘Hope for a Lost Generation’ was published to specifically target the under 25’s by providing new training, internship and job placement opportunities. It is imperative that we do not allow the current unemployment crisis to develop into a generational crisis.
While Government takes a defeatist attitude by projecting more job losses this year as a given, Fine Gael recognises that saving existing jobs will be easier than creating. As a result we have produced our ‘SME Survival Package’ that aims to save jobs in the small business sector which currently employs over 800,000 people.
To give businesses and their employees a much needed boost Fine Gael has proposed a jobs tax cut. Cutting the both rates of employers PRSI which will result in a reduction of €887 million in employment taxes and costs for 175,000 Irish businesses that employ 1.7 million workers.