TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan’s announcement of a scheme to protect jobs in export companies has received a cautious welcome from the sector.
Ms Coughlan said the temporary €250 million employment subsidy scheme would protect up to 27,400 vulnerable jobs and be weighted in favour of companies that would commit to keeping people in work. Opposition parties dismissed the initiative, claiming it would have little impact.
Ms Coughlan said exporting firms were going to drive Ireland’s medium-term recovery and were the businesses “to which we must give every assistance as they work to maintain and grow their export potential”.
“The scheme itself will involve the payment of a subsidy to such firms to maintain a person in employment for an agreed period.”
The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) welcomed the scheme as an “important first move”, while describing the closing date of September 4th for applications as tight and the regulations complex.
IEA chief executive John Whelan said the association had been calling on Government to deliver a stimulus package for the sector of at least €1 billion since last December.
“The current scheme will assist 9 per cent of employment directly in the sector and there are more companies and employees at risk,” he said.
“However, we accept An Tánaiste’s assurance that this is the first leg of a pilot scheme which, if successful, will be expanded up to the €1 billion stimulus needed.
“This new scheme must be implemented rapidly and with the minimum of administrative red tape if it is to be effective. Many of the features of the scheme will need revision as the pilot scheme is rolled out.”
The employers’ group Ibec said the announcement was positive news but agreed with the IEA view that a budget of €1 billion was required. Ibec director Pat Delaney said the Government must focus on protecting employment and keeping as many people in work as possible. “It is much better to spend money on keeping people in work, rather than spending it on social welfare payments once jobs have been lost,” he said.
The Employment Subsidy Scheme will provide up to €9,100 per employee over 15 months to enterprises that qualify for the scheme following an eligibility assessment.
The initiative will provide a maximum subsidy of €200 per full-time employee per week for the first 26 weeks, reducing to €150, €100 and €50 respectively for each of the subsequent 13-week periods.
The maximum subsidy payable to any one enterprise is €500,000. Eligibility for the subsidy will be restricted to firms that meet certain criteria, including employing at least 10 staff.
Announcing the scheme yesterday morning, Ms Coughlan said it was in addition to the €100 million Enterprise Stabilisation Fund put in place by Government earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD and innovation spokeswoman Deirdre Clune said the plan was a “deadweight proposal” that would have a limited impact on just one sector of the economy.
“The jobs plan rushed out by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan is ineffective, expensive and riddled with holes,” she said.
“The unemployment crisis goes right across the economy, with every sector affected. But the Tánaiste’s new scheme will have a limited impact on just one sector. I believe it’s a deadweight proposal from a lightweight Tánaiste,” she said.
Labour’s enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose said the scheme was unlikely to have much impact on unemployment figures.
“Even if the scheme performs as well as the Tánaiste hopes, it will only save 27,000 jobs. In the context of the 1,000 or so jobs that have disappeared every week since Brian Cowen became Taoiseach, this does not appear to be a very ambitious target,” he said.
Sinn Féin spokesman on finance Arthur Morgan accused the Tánaiste of relaunching an old scheme. “The Government already launched this plan in June,” he said.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions a “guarded welcome” to the scheme.
