Job creation is a political choice - Kelly

Sinn Féin launched a sixty page job creation document in New Ross last week aimed at putting 156,000 unemployed people back to work, retaining 15,000 at risk jobs and stimulating the local economy over the next four years.  Local unemployed, many of whom admitted that they were considering emigrating in the coming months, viewed the plan at the meeting and had their say.

Speaking at the launch, titled ‘Investing in Ireland’s Future: Create Jobs, Create Growth’, Cllr Anthony Kelly said the plan is full costed and provided an alternative, socially responsible way to reduce the Budget deficit and create jobs.

"Sinn Féin is proposing a €13billion investment in a job-creation and economic growth strategy over four years.  This is our alternative to the failed policies of austerity favoured by Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail, policies that have clearly failed this state and have left 20,000 Wexford people jobless."

"Our plan is fully costed by the Department of Finance.  It is not fantasy, it is not populism, it is a real opportunity to reinvigorate this nation.  This plan would create 156,000 jobs (long-term and short-term, according to the ERSI) and retain up to 15,000 jobs.  It would stem rising emigration, giving young people an opportunity to stay and make a life for themselves here in our county.  Today 46% of under 25's in Wexford are out of work.  How can we go like this?"

"Its all about political choices at the end of the day," Cllr Kelly said.  "We can choose to usher in further austerity for ordinary families in the budget or we can choose to invest in these families, to invest in their communities.  We can choose to say that it is not the job of government to create jobs as Fine Gael have said or we can recognise that it should be the absolute priority of our government to get the nation back to work.  We can choose to force in unfair taxation like the household charge or we can choose to develop strategically important assets like Rosslare Europort, getting people back to work and in doing so increasing revenue from income tax."

The Chairperson of local Sinn Féin, Oisin O' Connell outlined how the plan could be financed.

"We would use €5.8 billion in discretionary funding from the National Pension Reserve Fund," Mr O' Connell said, "€1.534 billion from the European Investment Bank and €3 billion incentivised investment from the private pension sector.  On top of this we would not allow the €2.6 billion earmarked to be cut from capital expenditure in Budget 2013 to go."

"Clearly the policies of austerity have failed the people of County Wexford.  We have areas where youth emigration has been so bad that local sports teams are struggling to field a side.  The whole fabric of our communities has been decimated.  If you want the source problem of this, and the solution, you need only ask yourself what is lacking in Wexford today.  The answer is jobs."