Labour ignore the truth over Government jobs’ strategy – Collins

Contrary to claims by the Labour Party, the Government remains fully committed to getting back to work, according to Fianna Fail TD for County Limerick, Niall Collins.

Deputy Collins was responding to comments made by the leader of the Labour Party Eamon Gilmore in the Dáil today in which he accused the Government of failing to tackle unemployment.

Deputy Collins said: “All of the Government’s actions revolve around creating growth and generating jobs. Getting people back to work is the driving force of our entire economic strategy. For the Labour Party to suggest that we are not interested in tackling unemployment is simply ridiculous. It shows that Eamon Gilmore and his colleagues are more interested in scoring cheap political points than addressing the reality of the situation.”

“The Live Register figures released today further strengthen the Government’s resolve to get people back to work. We know that the loss of even one job is always one too many. That is why we have introduced a wide range of measures aimed at supporting sustainable employment.”

“The best way to get people back to work is to get our house in order – we are doing this by fixing the banks and stabilising our public finances. We have also introduced a number of significant training and labour supports. These include the PRSI Jobs Incentive Scheme which is expected to create up to 10,000 new jobs, the Employment Subsidy Scheme which will safeguard an estimated 80,000 jobs and the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund which has already supported over 7,500 jobs.”

“In addition to these innovative schemes, we continue to invest heavily in our capital programme. We have committed to investing almost €40 billion in labour intensive projects over the next 6 years. At 5% of GNP, this is twice the European average.”

“Economic recovery and job creation also require that we price ourselves back into the market by driving our costs down. Though difficult we have made major inroads on this front by introducing wage restraint and lowering energy costs. The Opposition, however, should also play its part. Between them, Labour and Fine Gael control the vast majority of the local authorities. Yet they have not taken sufficient action to reduce business rates.”

“While much remains to be done, there are reasons to be hopeful. The CSO data released today, for example, provides hard evidence that the Irish economy is out of recession. We must continue to ensure that the real benefits of this filter down to the families who find themselves affected by unemployment.”