POLICY LAUNCH:THE IRISH people need to hear a message of hope from their political leaders rather than continuing doom and gloom, according to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin to launch two new policy initiatives yesterday Mr Gilmore said Ireland was going through a deep and painful recession at a terrible human cost. “There are international factors affecting the Irish economy, but we all know that poor Fianna Fáil government has been central in creating this crisis which is now one of the worst seen in a developed economy since the 1930s,” he said.
Mr Gilmore added that no matter how bad any crisis was there was always a moment when things could be turned around.
“There are always steps that we can take to start moving in the right direction . . . we can begin to restore a vital requirement for any economy: confidence.”
He said that throughout the economic crisis, Labour had put jobs and the real economy at the forefront of the political debate and today the party was highlighting six key strategies to start Ireland moving in the right direction.
One aspect of the strategy is two new Bills which the party will table in the Dáil when it resumes business after the June 5th elections.
The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Review of Commercial Rents) Bill is designed to address the serious burden placed on businesses arising from the current decline in the economy, when faced with “upwards only” rent reviews.
“Our Bill accordingly empowers the Government, in the public interest, by order to grant temporary relief from the operation of upwards-only rent reviews by providing that such reviews cannot result in a rent higher than the current market rent,” he said.
The Second Bill, the Local Government (Rates) (Amendment) Bill is designed to recognise the serious problems facing many small businesses arising from the commercial rates burden.
Mr Gilmore added that dealing with the banking crisis was a core component of any successful economic strategy. “Labour made the right decision in voting against the banking guarantee, and Labour has been to the forefront in advancing the least costly and most effective approach to dealing with the banking crisis through temporary nationalisation.
“We desperately need a national skills campaign to provide education, training and working experience to people on the Live Register. People are the core of the knowledge economy. We must do everything we can to offer opportunity and hope to people on the Live Register,” he said.
Labour Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said at the press conference that the publication of the Anglo-Irish Bank report before the bank holiday weekend was very convenient for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance. With the Dáil in recess for the week it meant there would be no opportunity to question either before the elections on Friday.
“The Anglo situation is truly of such importance that it should be foremost in the mind of voters this Friday . . . It dwarfs every other issue national, local and European. On its own it is sufficient to allow voters to make damning judgments on both Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and to use Friday’s elections to order both parties out of Government,” she said.
Ms Burton said that on Friday people were told that Anglo had lost more than €4 billion in just six months. It needed €4 billion of taxpayers’ money immediately, and probably a further €3.5 billion later to stay in business.
“The decision to continue with Anglo at all costs is a direct result of the blanket guarantee of last September. A different, more confined guarantee, as suggested by Labour last September, would have enabled the State to nationalise the bank on quite different terms and arrange a more orderly wind-down of its affairs.
“It is the ill-judged and flawed blanket guarantee of September 30th last that has brought the taxpayer into the present quandary in relation to Anglo’s future,” Ms Burton said.