Speech by An Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore TD, at the launch of Momentum, Windmill Lane Studios
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to be here today, for the announcement of what is an
innovative response to the greatest challenge facing us today:
unemployment.
Last year, this Government was tasked, by the people, with fixing
the most profound crisis in the history of the State.
That crisis is a banking crisis, a fiscal crisis, and it is jobs
crisis. We cannot solve our country’s problems, without
tackling all three. But in my opinion, the most pressing –
the most urgent human and economic challenge facing us today – is
unemployment.
Too many of our fellow men and women are without work. Too
many children are growing up in households where no-one has a job.
And too many of our young people are being forced to leave
their families behind, to find work abroad.
We cannot stand for that, as a people. And we will not stand
for it as a Government.
Creating jobs and tackling unemployment is critical to everything
we, as a Government, are trying to achieve.
There is no one simple answer to the problem – we have to work on a
number of fronts at once. You cannot build a thriving economy
on rotten foundations. We have made significant progress in
normalising our banking sector, stabilising the public finances,
and repairing Ireland’s reputation as a place to do business.
We can see the results of that work in the steady flow, since the
beginning of the year, of investment by major international
companies in Ireland. Our export sector is also going from
strength to strength.
However, we know that not everyone is going to work in a
multinational company, or in a sector of the economy that sells
goods and services overseas. We have to boost demand and
support businesses at home, too.
That is why, this summer, we introduced an investment stimulus
programme, focused on projects that would be job-intensive, and
that would produce a social dividend – like schools, and
healthcare.
The Government has also taken a number of steps to normalise the
property market, and we have seen some movement return.
This week, we will sign the Personal Insolvency Bill into law,
which will help to deal with the problem of personal mortgage debt
that, that is crippling too many households and acting as drag on
the economy.
And ten days ago, in the Budget, the Minister for Finance brought
in a set of measures to assist small and medium-sized companies,
building on previous Government initiatives, like reducing the VAT
on tourism-related services.
Working to stimulate the economy, to boost consumer confidence, and
to help small businesses to grow, is just one side of the equation.
The other is to help match the people who are out of work
today, to the jobs that will be created tomorrow.
This is at the heart of the Government’s radical overhaul of how we
think about, and deliver, social welfare and training services – a
reform programme called ‘Pathways to Work’. At its most
simple, it boils down to a belief that a person’s first day of
unemployment, should be their first day on their way back to work.
And we need to make it as easy, and as seamless as possible,
for people to do that. The new Intreo offices that are being
rolled out around the country – ‘one-stop shops’ that provide both
welfare benefits, and advice on training and job opportunities –
are a practical example of what we mean.
So too is MOMENTUM – a smart, flexible approach, that is responsive
both to the needs of job-seekers, and the employers who are
looking for them.
I want to congratulate Minister Quinn, Minister of State Ciarán
Cannon, and Paul O’Toole for the work they are doing in this area,
together with Minister Joan Burton in the Department of Social
Protection. There is no more important job facing this
Government, than getting our fellow men and women back into
employment, and ensuring that our country offers opportunities for
our young people. That is our focus – every Minister, every
day, every week – until we succeed. And I believe that we
will.
Go raibh maith agat.
ENDS
