A Return to Policy, A Bit of a Breather – Fianna Fail Job Creation Statement

Well it seems that since Bertiegate spilled over into Saturday, the bank holiday was extended to Tuesday to give a bit of breathing space. Still the FF machine are taking advantage of the pause by getting a policy out which migh be discussed. This policy relates to the creation of jobs and the primacy of R&D. They also accuse FG and Labour of ignoring these areas. The main FF proposals are;

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  Implement action at all levels to significantly increase the level, quality and impact of research and innovation activity;
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  Get the foundations right with greater investment in education at all levels;
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  Further increase third level participation rates and introduce a new scheme of means-tested free fees for approved part-time courses;
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  Double the number of PhD students by 2013;
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  Ensure that there is enhanced sharing of knowledge between academia and industry;
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  Support and develop the coordinated multi-agency Invest over €8 billion by 2013 in research across sectors such as agrifood, energy and health that are of huge strategic importance to the future of our economy and society;
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  Simplify grants and supports to businesses to conduct Research and Development, and enhance the R&D tax credit scheme;
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  Double business expenditure on R&D by 2013; and
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  Support small businesses by enhancing the Business Expansion Scheme and the Seed Capital Scheme and making funding available to help them to access advice and research-based knowledge

I cant see where they are getting all this about Labour and Fine Gael, there is little difference between theme here. Labour even went so far as to include it in the manifesto. Indeed Labour are offering to abolish fees for all part-time courses (in the case of studying for first degree) not just a means-tested abolition. Equally a sharing of knowledge between industy and academia is covered by their commitment to let industry shape research agendas in certain key areas. There are other areas of overlap but this is good to see, it means that parties recognise that there is not just a good economy now but their needs to be one which delivers high-calibre jobs through a solid system of education and a pro-active approach to forging areas of excellence in research where Ireland can excel (the Greens are strong on this point seeking to excel at green-technology, an area of guaranteed growth in coming years).

What I think they were saying is there may be different methods to achieving jobs growth and some parties are doing it differently. I disagree when Martin suggests Fianna Fail are the guardians of good jobs, equally they have failed to address the issue of energy cost inflation in all this. And my vote goes to the party with a strong emphasis on knowledge sharing between MNCs and local enterprise.