FUNDING OF €30 million for school-building projects, an expanded energy retrofitting plan and abolition of the air travel tax, are expected to be among the measures in the jobs initiative to be launched today.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has already invited members of the Irish diaspora to participate in a job creation scheme whereby prospective employers will receive a finder’s fee of €3,000 for every job resulting from a project that is still in existence two years on.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said his party would take a “constructive” approach to the jobs announcement, due to be made by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in the Dáil at about 4pm.
But Mr Martin warned that very hight expectations have been raised and he pointed out that the term “jobs budget” to describe the announcement had now been abandoned by Government representatives.
“Reality is dawning,” he said, noting that the amount of funding involved had now been reduced to about €500 million.
He said Fianna Fáil was concerned about reports that the initiative might involve a levy on pension funds because this would cause difficulties for a number of companies.
“This would be punishing prudent people who invested in pension funds,” he said.
He was also concerned that internships and work placements in the announcement would simply consist of the implementation of existing schemes put in place by the last Fianna Fáil-led government.
“Jobs are created by getting the environment right,” Mr Martin insisted.
“Governments don’t create jobs,” he added.
Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said: “Sinn Féin believes that the only way to get the economy back on track is to invest in a major stimulus package.
“A stimulus in the order of €2.9 billion over the next 12 months is not only affordable, but is urgently needed if we are to break the downward spiral created by Fianna Fáil’s policies of austerity, now followed by Fine Gael and Labour,” he said.
The Gonvernment’s initiative will be “fiscally neutral”, meaning the measures announced will be balanced by either spending cuts or tax increases.
JOBS PROPOSALS MAIN POINTS:
Mr Noonan’s proposals are expected to be broadly in line with commitments given in the Fine Gael-Labour programme for government to implement the following:Provide resources for an additional 15,000 places in training, work experience and educational opportunities for those who are out of work;
* Cut the 13.5 per cent rate of VAT to 12 per cent up to end 2013;
* Halve the lower 8.5 per cent rate of PRSI up to end 2013 on jobs paying up to €356 per week;
* Reverse the €1 cut in the minimum wage, bringing it back to €8.65 per hour;
* Abolish the €3 per passenger travel tax as part of a deal with airlines to restore lost routes;
* Implement initiatives in areas that will create employment in the domestic economy;
* Initiate a long-term strategy to develop new markets in emerging economies;
* Secure additional resources for the national housing energy retrofitting plan, as part of plans to phase out subsidies in this area by 2014;
* Expand eligibility for the back to education allowance;
* Accelerate capital works that are “shovel ready” and labour-intensive including schools and secondary roads.
