Address by An Taoiseach and Uachtarán Fhianna Fáil to the 72nd Ard-Fheis: Part 4

Jobs

There is a more human face to this recession. Every week now we are hearing of more people becoming unemployed. They mount up, and they become statistics. A thousand here, hundreds there.

But they are not mere statistics. There are people and families behind each and every one of those jobs.

And when a person loses their job, they are losing more than a wage. A job gives dignity, an opportunity to contribute and a feeling of achievement. That is what people can lose.

So, while I know that more jobs will go, we are going to do everything to hold on to as many as we can.

We need to protect our native businesses to the greatest extent possible.

That is why, at our next Cabinet meeting we will set up an Enterprise Stabilisation Fund with initial funding of €100m to be run by Enterprise Ireland. The aim of the fund is to support viable but vulnerable exporting companies who, but for this recession, would be thriving.

Smart Economy

This country currently ranks 2nd in Europe in terms of Entrepreneurship and we must encourage that now more than ever, because business start ups provide the jobs of tomorrow.

In December I launched a Plan on the Smart Economy, which aims to position Ireland as the leading location for business innovation in the world.

We want to create the best environment possible whereby good ideas are converted into great businesses.

We intend to use the billions of euro that we are now spending on research, development and innovation up to 2013, to create the commercialized products and services of the future.

I know that the vision of Ireland as the “Innovation Island” is ambitious. But I believe it is achievable given the creativity, the energy and the proven ability of our people.

Good ideas still exist during a recession, and this initiative will provide us with a model for sustainable economic renewal in the coming years.
Competitiveness

The key to Ireland’s survival is to be able to compete in export markets, with goods and services that people want, at an affordable price. That is how we have generated our national wealth, and that ultimately, is how we maintain our jobs.

But the world is not an easy place to sell in now. The countries we sell to are in recession as well. Orders have fallen. There is more competition out there and we must regain our competitive edge.

So we have to reduce our costs, especially our energy costs, if we are to continue to win back the investment and the customers we need to recover.

We also must increase our productivity.

The bottom line is we have to work harder and work smarter, producing more for less, if we are to survive and thrive in the future.

Unemployed

As I mentioned earlier, losing a job is a big blow to workers and their families.

My government is committed to doing all we can for people who find themselves out of work.

We will-

* Create more than 50,000 extra training places for newly unemployed people.
* Help graduates get work through job placement schemes.
* Offer ‘back to education’ courses to those who need them.

We are investing now in creating courses in areas such as sustainable energy and the green economy to capitalize on this growing world wide market.

I have also asked the relevant Government Departments to pool their resources to try and keep people in their jobs before they lose them.

All options are being looked at.

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