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February 03, 2010

Taoiseach is engaging in abracadabra economics, wishing away unemployment figures, Gilmore tells Cowen

The latest unemployment figures show almost 440,000 people on the live register with 319 people losing their jobs everyday and despite the message from Fianna Fail that we are turning a corner into economic recovery, there is very little sign of it, the Labour Leader Eamon Gimore TD told the Dáil this morning.

Speaking during Leaders' Questions Eamon added: "The Taoiseach seems to think that he can wish away the number of people who are out of work because of the number of days and so on they are on the live register. If he wants to go into the figures, there are also people who are unemployed but not on the live register because they no longer receive benefits and they are no longer reflected in the figures.

"The reality is the number of people out of work is increasing... When will we see a serious effort by the Government to get a jobs strategy in place, get the economy moving and get people back to work."

Eamon went to explain the many different proposals Labour has tabled which would boost our economy, proposals such as investment in education and training, a jobs fund in the Budget and a new National Development Plan, all of which has been rejected by the Government.

You can see Eamon's full contribution to Leaders' Questions in the video, while the transcript of the exchange will be available on the Oireachtas website. Our Deputy Leader Joan Burton also made a short video last night talking about the latest exchequer figures.

Permanent link | Comments (0) | Posted in Finance

February 02, 2010

An investment in education is an investment in recovery

Yesterday was the deadline date for CAO submissions and today we learned applications are well up on previous years with two applications for every college place.

This issue was raised during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil this afternoon when the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore reminded the Government that Labour has argued time and time again that additional places in higher and further education are needed to meet the needs of those who have lost their job.

Eamon said: "If the Government does not (provide sufficient places in higher and further education) between now and September, people who have lost their jobs who wish to return to education and training will be denied their place and will have to stay on the dole or the young people who are today preparing for their leaving certificate examination will be denied the place in third level or further education that they had hoped to get because the points for entry will have increased."

Eamon told the Government this is an investment in recovery and it is a matter of planning and doing the right thing.

The full debate will be available on the Oireachtas website while you can view Eamon's contribution on the accompanying video.

Permanent link | Comments (0) | Posted in Education • Finance • leadersquestions

January 27, 2010

Government won't rule out another savage attack on public pay

Yesterday's Leaders' Questions in the Dáil saw the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore question the Tanaiste about whether the Government will pursue a third pay cut from low-paid public servants, the Tanaiste did not give a straight answer and once again Eamon pursued the Tanaiste today to respond to his question.

Citing the example of Mary, a clerical officer in the Department of Education, whose husband has lost his job and jobseeker's benefit has run out, Eamon explained in stark details how the pay cut has hit Mary's family hard.

The family is trying to get by on her €451 weekly wage, had to hand back the keys of their house and are now living in rented accommodation paying rent of €625 a month. As a result of the pension levy and the pay cut imposed in the Budget, Mary's pay has been cut by €77 a week. When you compare the hardships imposed on Mary's family to the 'sweetheart deal', as Eamon described it, between top senior officers in Mary's department who earn six or seven times Mary's income, Eamon asked the Tanaiste if she thought this was fair.

Eamon also spoke of the 'campaign of abuse and vilification of public servants' carried out by the Government to 'soften public opinion and soften public servants' so it could get away with cutting their pay in the December budget.

"Will the Tanaiste give a straight answer to the question of whether it is fair that Mary must accept a pay cut of €77 a week while higher-paid civil servants get a sweetheart deal from the Government," pressed Eamon.

Eamon's contribution is available on the accompanying video and the full debate will be available on the Oireachtas website. As ever we want to know what you think, let us know in the comments section below.

Permanent link | Comments (1) | Posted in eamongilmore • leadersquestions

January 26, 2010

Gilmore demands assurance on no more public sector pay cuts

By the end of this week, the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD told the Dáil this afternoon during Leaders' Questions, every employee of the State will have his or her pay cut for the second time in less than a year.

For those on €25,000 a year, this works out as €160 a month, a Garda or teacher in the middle of his or her scale will be down €400 a month while a staff nurse with 10 years experience will be cut by €560.

Eamon asked the Government if it had any appreciation of the level of anger among State employees, anger he said that is compounded by the sweetheart arrangement the Government made with senior civil servants to limit the impact of the pat cuts on those senior officers.

He went on to ask for an assurance that the Government will not be going back a third time to cut the pay of employees whose pay has already been cut.

The Tanaiste, who was standing in for the Taoiseach, declined to give that assurance.

You can read more about this on the RTE including the impact of the pay cuts on people at the bottom of the article as heard by a CPSU conference held in Dublin today.

The accompanying video shows Eamon's full contribution from Leaders' Questions today, while you can read the full exchange on the Oireachtas website.

Have you been hit hard with the pay cuts? Do let us know in the comments section below.

Permanent link | Comments (1) | Posted in Finance • eamongilmore • leadersquestions

January 20, 2010

Gilmore continues to press Taoiseach on banking inquiry

In the Dáil today during Leaders' Questions the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD said the Government's proposals for a banking inquiry is not an inquiry into what went wrong with the banks and how we can learn from it

Our proposal, which is being debated again this evening during Private Members seeks a parliamentary inquiry similar to the DIRT inquiry.

Eamon called the Government's proposals 'unacceptable' saying they would only serve to cover the bad decisions made by the Taoiseach and the Government and would not deal with what went wrong in the banking system so that we can learn from it.

"Fianna Fail want a private inquiry. The rest of us want a public inquiry.

"What the Government is doing here is setting up an inquiry into everything about banking, including the international context, except the Government's own decisions, such as the critical decision to introduce the guarantee scheme, which is what has locked the Irish taxpayer into paying for the banking crisis. There were several issues involved in September 2008, particularly on 29th September, which require to be investigated and which require answers. "

You can follow tonight's debate on the Labour motion (the wording of which you can read here) online from the Oireachtas website.

We will post videos of some of our contributors from the Private Members' motion in the morning. You can also view Eamon's contribution to this morning's Leaders' Questions in the accompanying video and read the transcript of the full exchange on the Oireachtas website.

Do let us know what you think in the comments section below.

EDIT: January 23rd 2010

You can view all the Labour contributions from the Private Members' time on our You Tube channel, alternatively individual speeches can be viewed at the links below.

Eamon Gilmore

Joan Burton
Michael D
Pat Rabbitte
Kathleen Lynch
Sean Sherlock
Ciaran Lynch
Mary Upton
Joe Costello
Ruairi Quinn

Permanent link | Comments (0) | Posted in Finance • eamongilmore • leadersquestions • banks

January 19, 2010

Gilmore calls Government amendment on banking inquiry a 'scam'

Proceedings today in the House, the first day of the Dáil session, were dominated by the banks, from Leaders Questions this morning to the financial statements in the afternoon to this evening's Private Members' time which will debate a Labour Party motion seeking an inquiry into the Banks.

During Leaders' Questions this morning, the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD was strongly critical of the Government's amendment to this evening's motion describing it as a 'sham'. Eamon said the Government's amendment would see any inquiry being held in private with the Dáil excluded from the process.

Eamon said: "This is public business. This is business that affects every single taxpayer in the country, people who will have to pay for years to come for the failings that happened in the banking system. The public are entitled to have this inquiry conducted in public so they can draw their own conclusions and see it carried out as a public exercise."

You can see Eamon's contribution in the accompanying video while the full transcript of the proceedings will be published soon on the Oireachtas website.

Permanent link | Comments (0) | Posted in Finance

January 14, 2010

BT Young Scientists Exhibition 2010

BT Young Scientists 2010
Deputy Ruairi Quinn at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition with Fiachra Maguire from St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin.

This afternoon the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD and Ruairi Quinn TD, our Education Spokesperson paid a visit to the BT Young Scientists Exhibition in Dublin's RDS. Ruairi has posted a few thoughts about the exhibition and education in general. Do let us know what you think in the comments section below. More images from this afternoon will be available soon on Flickr.

It was great to see the large numbers of young people at the Young Scientist exhibition in Dublin today. I was very impressed by the levels of enthusiasm and interest in science, particularly when it is often remarked how under-promoted the subject is. The students in our schools today are the key to Ireland's economic success tomorrow.

That is why it is so regrettable to see the effects of the government's cutbacks on our education system. Resources for education have been cut dramatically over the last three budgets. Funds for schools and new buildings are falling and teachers pay has also been cut repeatedly.

There are huge ramifications for our children and for the economic future of Ireland. The challenges facing the education system go beyond resources however. There is a huge need to plan for the future of our education system and the Fianna Fail - Green Party government seems incapable of this.

We have a growing school population yet the capital budget is not being spent, class sizes are increasing and the number of teachers being trained is falling. We need to safeguard funding for education. The Labour Party proposes a national target of 7% of GDP to be spent on education over the coming years. At present we spend less than 5%, which is below the average spend by EU and OECD countries. We should move towards 7% over an agreed period of time.

by Ruairi Quinn TD

Permanent link | Comments (0) | Posted in Education • ruairiquinn

January 13, 2010

Bill published to restore inquiry powers to committees

Burton, Gilmore and Rabbitte
Joan Burton TD, the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD and Pat Rabbitte TD, at the press conference to announce a Bill which seeks to restore inquiry powers to Dáil Committees.

Speaking at a press conference today which announced the publication of a Bill which seeks to restore inquiry powers to Dáil Committees, the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD said the capacity to conduct inquiries into matters of public concern is a normal part of powers of parliaments in most democratic countries and it is important that the Oireachtas should be properly equipped with similar powers.

The capacity of the Dáil and Seanad through committees to conduct inquiries was thrown into doubt as a result of the 2002 decision of the Supreme Court in the Abbeylara case.

Eamon said: "The publication of the Bill is particularly timely given the mounting calls for a comprehensive inquiry into the origins of the banking crisis. The enactment of the legislation, along with the lines set out in our Bill, will be required if we are to have a DIRT-style inquiry into the banking crisis." (You can read Eamon's statement in our media centre).

Labour Spokesperson on Justice, Pat Rabbitte TD said: "I believe that a parliamentary power of inquiry is necessary and intrinsic to the proper functioning of a representative, responsible, parliamentary democracy. And I believe it is clear that our State is the poorer - and has functioned more poorly - in the absence of a system where those who exercise authority in our State can be called to account for their performance in office. An Oireachtas stripped of power suits government. It does not suit the people." (Pat's statement can also be found in our media centre.)

You can download the wording of the Bill here, its principal features here and a memo about the Bill here.

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