Head over to our T
A Message from the Leader
Read more about: Uncategorized 
For the benefit of those of you not on Planet Government or subscribed to the Fianna Fail email update, a message from Brian Lenihan.
Dear supporter,
Over the last twenty months, we have taken decisive and bold action to bring this country back from the brink of economic and financial ruin. The latest of these measures were contained in last December’s budget. We made savings of €4 billion through cuts in public sector pay, an average 4% reduction in welfare payments, and through controlling expenditure in all areas of Government.
These measures have stabilised our public finances and greatly increased international investor confidence in our ability to work our way out of this most difficult of economic crises. The benefits are there for all to see. Take a look at this:
http://www.fiannafail.ie/recoveryspreads
This graph shows the cost of borrowing for Ireland and Greece. The cost of repaying our debt has fallen because the government has made the difficult but correct choices.
If Ireland had gone the way of Greece, we could have expected to pay €3.6 billion more in interest over the next 10 years on the money we have had to borrow this year: dead money that we can now divert to much needed public services.
Internationally, we are now held up as an example of a country that is facing up to its economic difficulties and taking the necessary action. Now that we have begun to stabilise our public finances, we can take the necessary measures to return to economic growth and to create and protect jobs.
Please share this email with your friends, family and colleagues:
Recovery SpreadsIn their measured reaction to a very difficult and painful budget, the citizens of this country have shown they are willing to make sacrifices in the short term for the long term good of all. This maturity and understanding of the economic difficulties we face is the envy of other countries in Europe. Our flexibility and our foresight will be of enormous value to us as we continue to enact our plan for economic recovery.
Thank you for supporting us,
Brian Lenihan T.D.
Minister for Finance
Only some of the citizens of this country have had to make sacrifices, the elite are still comforable and have had their sacrifices reversed. There is no justice.
“These measures have ……… greatly increased international investor confidence in our ability to work …………
So we have to sacrifice to the new gods and now that we have got rid of the one true God we have latched on to the new gods we call “Investors”.
When are we going to learn that sacrifice to these news gods whose appetites are insatiable is about as good as voodoo.
“These measures have ……… greatly increased international investor confidence in our ability to work …………”
So we have to sacrifice to the new gods and now that we have got rid of the one true God we have latched on to the new gods we call “Investors”.
When are we going to learn that sacrifice to these new gods whose appetites are insatiable is about as good as voodoo.
It seems that David Begg and Peter McLoone are not on BL’s e-mail list.
As they say ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’
Proof beyond doubt that the Government’s necessary measures are working; the public service union bosses should take a look, and work out how much their wages will have to fall to compensate for the higher rates that would result if they got their way
Jason: “the public service union bosses should take a look, and work out how much their wages will have to fall…”
It should be easy to work out if investors have their way and public services are privatised (or outsourced). The minimum wage is already up for debate and I gather a high-prifile Irish investor said recently on TV that graduates should be willing to work for nothing to get experience.
So there you have it. How low do you think wages should go?
Perhaps the time is coming when workers will have to pay the employer for the privilege of having a job?
I worked for four months unpaid in 1992 in the UK as a new graduate to get the experience I couldnt get in Ireland at the time. The practical experience, reference and direction this gave was worth more than wages. Cullen’s point was for young Irish people to realise firstly the limitations as well as the value of their education and secondly to master their own destinies rather than blame the govt for everything.
If the minimum wage falls it will make it easier to employ part time staff and easier for businesses to provide weekend and out of hours service. More importantly it will lower the bench mark for the pay range at mid-skill level which is where the real costs for employers lie.
Whether you like it or not the cost of wages will deter businesses from expanding their work forces in the future. When the recession ends small businesses which have recently contracted will stay that size, will avoid expanding the workforce to tiger era levels and will happily maintain their SME at a more modest and more efficient numbers of work force.
The perception among many SME owners is that for a lot of the last decade we were “stung” by union-driven wage costs which would again make some business nearly non-viable if we went back there.
Des,
The minimum wage was introduced just as the economy was entering a boom period. Unfortunately for those employed at that rate the costs of living – rents, food, clothing, social entertainment – were all booming too, so it certainly didn’t appear to have been set at too high a rate for those in receipt of it. I think it was a botched policy though, firstly because too many low paid workers were progressively taken out of the tax net at the same time and secondly because the previous structures for low pay regulation, the JLCs and the REAs, were all left in place. Thus for whole sectors of economic activity, there were ‘top ups’ to the minimum wage in place, plus overtime and double time on Sunday rates etc.
I also think that it’s fair enough for professionals to take on unpaid placements for a few months to get experience, since they will usually have the back up of their families for their ‘intern’ period and can also look forward to strong earnings potential for the rest of their career, but it’s a very different thing for people who are employed in categories of work that will remain low paid for the rest of their working lives. Also, there has to be a concern that internships are being used to displace what should be real employment opportunities in some service areas, as are FAS supported work placements.
That said, SMEs are the employment engine of the economy and job creation in these companies is a pre-requisite for economic recovery and the employment growth which we all hope will follow. The economic environment has changed and deflation has made for substantial reductions in the basic costs of living over the past eighteen months. I would therefore support a complete review of the minimum wage system in tandem with reform and possibly elimination of the ancillary REAs and JLCs which distort it. Also, organisations that receive a large grant-in- aid from the State, for instance political parties, so-called think tanks or charities, should not be allowed receive a double state subsidy in the form of FAS grant aided employment. They should further be prohibited from hiring interns except at minimum wage rates. Otherwise all they’re doing is creating a layer of quasi public sector employment at a double cost to the taxpayer. Whatever incentives may be on offer for employment creation or retention should be directed towards real jobs in the real economy.
Des: So we have progressed to the next stage. Once upon a time when thing were bad you got a job in your teens that often provided a living wage throughout your working life. Now you are supposed to educate yourself into your mid twenties. And on top of that you are expected to work for nothing. This is certainly the age of enlightenment for me at any rate.
You say you worked for 4 months without pay. Why not 6 mths or a year or several years. Whose job did you do. Did you prevent someone from making a living. After all the labourer is worthy of his hire.
Maybe with the vast amount of freely available and exploitable labour throughout the EU you have hit upon an employers dream – and endless supply of free, free, free exploitable labour.
All I can say is that would not be allowed to happen in my day – the pre-Thatcher era.
The other important point that fits into this argument is that traditional business models always relied on free labour to sustain the business- family members.
The point about a lower minimum wage is not to push people onto a lower level for life but to help businesses bench mark lower and become more flexible.
Maybe the market should be allowed decide that the wages for some jobs ARE zero- for instance an intern doctor or intern engineer; do you want to let them treat you or supervise your RSJ going up ? No you dont.
So what can they be paid to do?
Dress a wound? change a bandage? take blood? MAybe not!
Dont assume that low or no wages = exploitation or = taking someone else’s job.
Having said all that- its a tangent from the starting point. I actually agree with the first few commmentaries about the inequity of sacrifice that this last year has seen. Not with standing my pro-business and enteprise stance on wages.