Sinn Féin candidate for the North West EU Constituency Cllr Pádraig MacLochlainn, joined Mullingar local election candidate Sorca Clarke yesterday (Thursday April 23 ) to launch the party’s job retention and creation strategy document entitled ‘Getting Ireland back to work’ in County Westmeath.
The document contains more than 80 proposals, which Sinn Féin believes are urgently required to retain existing jobs and create new ones, progress all-Ireland economic development, stimulate consumer spending, and maximize the benefits of education and training.
Speaking in Westmeath, Cllr MacLochlainn said: “There are now 9,000 people on the live register in Westmeath. Unemployment is spiralling out of control. The county has in recent times been hit with big job losses, in particular the loss of 400 jobs at Iralco in Collinstown. It is clear that the Government needs to implement a time-framed job creation and retention strategy without further delay. This must focus on stopping job losses, creating new jobs, keeping people in education and stimulating consumer spending.
Mr MacLochlainn believes that the recent emergency budget will have done nothing to stimulate the economy nor protect and create jobs. He says that little is being done to up-skill and retrain those who have lost their jobs. “The number one priority has to be retaining and creating jobs.
“One of the key mistakes that the Government made over the last decade was to overinflate the boom by not regulating the banks and the building industry. The same Government that over-inflated the boom now wants to exacerbate the downturn by taking too much money out of the economy. The Government got it wrong in the boom and is now getting it wrong in the downturn.”
The European candidate fels that Ireland needs a three-year plan to hold on to or create the 1,000 jobs a day that are being lost. “Such a plan needs to have a specific focus on creating jobs in the Midlands and other regions which even during the boom years continued to have levels of unemployment far in excess of the State average and did not see the same investment in infrastructure as other parts of the State,” he said.
“Such a plan needs to identify viable companies that need immediate help, it means identifying where jobs are going to be created over the next 3-5 years and bringing together FÁS, VECs, colleges, and universities to up-skill the workforce. It means fostering a real innovation culture. And most critically, quarterly regional targets need to be set and delivered. It must include steps to ensure that the Border, Midlands and West region is competitive and must build on the strengths of the region. This document sets out a range of proposals that should form the core of such a plan.
“Sinn Féin is being constructive – we are putting forward clear proposals to address the current economic crisis and the escalating levels of unemployment. Our key message is – if action is taken the economy can be turned around.”
