Labour Party leader, Eamon Gilmore said today that people needed to hear a message of message of hope about the economy from their political leaders.
Launching a set of proposals designed to encourage economic recovery Mr Gilmore said that Ireland was going through a deep and painful recession that was exacting 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 if the right measures were adopted.
¿There are always steps that we can take, to start moving in the right direction. In doing so, we can begin to restore a vital requirement for any economy: confidence.¿
He said that throughout the economic crisis, Labour has 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 Dail 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¿ commercial 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.
¿But banking is only one component of the solution. 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. In doing so, we will ensure the quickest possible return to work for people who are now unemployed,¿ he said.
