Minister’s education plea to jobless ‘dishonest’

THE public appeal by Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin to 50,000 unemployed young people to further their education has been described by Sinn Féin as dishonest and an election gimmick.
Arthur Morgan TD said:
“Minister Hanafin knows all too well that the education system has no capacity to upskill the thousands of younger people who are signing on. For the minister to come out three weeks before an election and urge job-seekers to upgrade is cynical and dishonest. The Government has done nothing for job-seekers. The education programmes which were announced in April’s emergency budget are vague and aspirational.
“Minister Hanafin would be better actually concentrating on providing education to younger people rather than focusing on misleading press releases.”

Eircom privatisation cause of job cuts

EIRCOM has announced 1,200 job cuts at the company which Sinn Féin say has been caused by the previous privatisation of the company. Sinn Féin called for the company to be renationalised rather than handed over to another self-serving multinational.
Ruadhán Mac Aodháin, Dublin Sinn Fein local election candidate, said:
“The announcement of 1,200 redundancies at Eircom is yet another example of the disastrous privatisation of the state’s telecommunications network.
“Privatisation of Eircom has been disastrous. The quality of our broadband infrastructure is below the EU average while vast parts of the country remain without a broadband connection whatsoever.
“The Irish economy and workers are suffering because Eircom is controlled by a self-serving board of management. Eircom should be nationalised rather than handed over to another multinational.”

Trade unions discuss mortgage arrears and jobs

TRADE UNIONS in the 26 Counties began talks this week with senior members of the Civil Service about job-protection and creation, pensions and plans to help people in mortgage arrears as part of an agreement on economic recovery.
ICTU will decide later this week if it is worth continuing with the talks on a state-wide agreement.
SIPTU President Jack O’Connor said that he did not believe the Government would agree to specific proposals on the table then but give an indication that there was potential for agreement on other issues.
Congress are seeking a €1 billion commitment from the Government to create jobs and a plan to prevent home repossessions for two years after a borrower goes into arrears.