6 May 2010 Edition

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10,000 unemployed in Clondalkin - urgent action needed

Sinn Féin’s Cathal Ó Murchu and Eoin Ó Broin with Unite economist Michael Taft at the Green Isle Jobs meeting

Sinn Féin’s Cathal Ó Murchu and Eoin Ó Broin with Unite economist Michael Taft at the Green Isle Jobs meeting

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT can be tackled if the Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government show some imagination and action, Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin  told a public meeting in Clondalkin, Dublin, last week on ‘Ending the Jobs Crisis’.
The meeting, organised by Sinn Féin, took place in the Green Isle Hotel on Wednesday, April 28th. Speakers included Eoin Ó Broin and Unite trade union economist Michael Taft.
Ó Broin said:
“Clondalkin has the second-highest level of unemployment in County Dublin. There are 10,000 adults unemployed. Of these, there are more than 2,000 young people under the age of 25 out of work.
“Across the state, one in three young men are out of work with more than 85,000 unemployed young people. Government mismanagement of the economy is to blame.
“But there is an alternative to Fianna Fail/Green Party policy. Sinn Féin has produced detailed, costed proposals that would get 50,000 people under the age of 25 off the dole immediately and create many more jobs in the years ahead.
“Investing in tackling youth unemployment now will pay dividends well into the future.”
Ó Broin, Chair of Dublin Sinn Féin, said that Sinn Féin’s proposals include:
•    A youth jobs fund to create 20,000 new jobs at a cost of €500 million;
•    An individual plan for the long-term prospects of every person under 25 who is on the live register;
•    2,000 places on a ‘One More Language Scheme’ to give the young unemployed a chance to learn an extra foreign language at a cost of €20 million;
•    5,000 free ECDL advanced places at a cost of €25 million;
•    10,000 new CE places at a cost of €168 million;
•    1,000 places on conversion courses at third level to help graduates convert their skills to potential growth sectors at a cost of €15 million;
•    Eight measures to treble the number of under-25s who are self-employed, including a national entrepreneurship programme, access to credit and greater support for high potential start-ups;
•    Create a publicly-owned ‘green tech’ firm for Ireland and initiate a major drive to attract FDI in renewable energy at a cost of €100 million;
•    Make Ireland a digital media leader through support for skills, infrastructure and entrepreneurship;
•    A ‘National Development Scheme’ to employ people directly on public works projects employing 2,000 workers at a cost of approx €100 million;
•    Lift the suspension on the early farm retirement scheme to make farming an option for younger people.
 “Our proposals show that it is possible to beat youth unemployment with imaginative thinking and a political commitment. This has been completely absent from the Government’s approach to the jobs crisis.”

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