Minister Kelleher rejects Labour’s criticisms of Government jobs’ strategy

The Labour Party is once again being completely disingenuous by accusing the Government of lacking a jobs' strategy, Minister for Trade and Commerce and Fianna Fáil Cork North Central TD, Billy Kelleher said today.

Responding to comments by Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore that the Government is failing to tackle unemployment Minister Kelleher said: “The Government’s number one priority is to get people back to work. It is the driving force behind our entire economic strategy. For the Labour Party to claim that we are not interested in tackling employment is not just inaccurate but also reckless. Clearly, it suits Eamon Gilmore’s agenda to constantly attack the Government rather than to recognise the important initiatives that have been undertaken to sustain and generate jobs.”

Minister Kelleher said: “Over the past 18 months we have introduced a number of significant training and labour supports. To bring Labour up to speed, these include the Employment Subsidy Scheme which is expected to safeguard 80,000 jobs and the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund which has already supported over 7, 500 jobs. Yesterday we launched the PRSI jobs incentive scheme which is expected to create up to 10,000 new jobs.”

“In addition to these innovative schemes, we are continuing to invest heavily in our capital programme. We have committed to investing almost €40 billion in labour intensive projects over the next 6 years. This year we will invest €6.5billion in infrastructure, providing up to 70, 000 jobs. At 5% of GNP, this is twice the European average.”

“Recognising that a vibrant SME sector is vital to our recovery, we have introduced a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the flow of credit. Chief among these is the establishment of NAMA which will clear the banks of their toxic assets enabling them to lend again. Under the recapitalisation plan, AIB and Bank of Ireland are obliged to make a total of €12 billion available to viable businesses this year and next. We have also set up an independent credit review system to ensure that small businesses are being dealt with fairly in terms of securing loans.”

“No doubt the Labour Party hopes that by constantly undermining the Government, nobody will think to ask about their own vague and uncosted jobs proposals," Minister Kelleher concluded.