Government plan dismissed as 'old clothes'

The Government plan to boost the economy that was unveiled in Dublin today by the Taoiseach has been dismissed by the Opposition and a leading business body.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the Building Ireland's Smart Economyreport provided no answers for tackling a worsening economic crisis.

“The Taoiseach states that a transformation of the economy is necessary if we are to confront the challenges we face. He is right. But in this document he refuses to make any of the difficult decisions needed to commence that transformation.

“This document is no more than a repackaging of activities that are already under way,” Mr Bruton said.

“Old clothes are being put on new hangers with fancy names and the Taoiseach pretends the economy is then made over. Rolling out the proposals already passed in the Finance Bill and in the Estimates does not constitute a new strategy.

“Tagging on a slew of buzz words to existing policies does not constitute a new strategy either,” the Fine Gael TD said.

“For all the benign aspiration in the document today it is worth recognising that you can’t build a smart economy based on dumb decisions.

Mr Bruton called for immediate decisions on, among other steps, recapitalising the banks, suspending the pay deal, and reversing the increase in VAT.

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Arthur Morgan TD said the framework was a collection of "rehashed policies with some new economic aspirations but very little substance".

“The Government have been far too slow to respond to the economic crisis and today’s plan falls far short of what is required. It is telling that the Government has announced this plan in Dublin Castle - they are obviously trying to avoid a proper debate in the Dáil.”

The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) said was dismayed by the Government announcement today and dismissed it as a “road to nowhere”.

Isme called the economic framework “vague, bereft of ideas, and deficient in specifics, measurements and time frame” and said it would not tackle the real problems facing business.

The plan “is typical of the attitude of our political leaders to date, borne of ignorance of the real economy”.

“As the Government tinker with half baked proposals, jobs continue to be lost, companies continue to close and the economy continues to go down the tubes,” the organisation’s statement concludes.

However, Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, said it “broadly welcomed” the strategy, which it said “has the potential to greatly strengthen the country’s enterprise base over the coming years”.

Ibec director general Turlough O’Sullivan said: “There are many things in this plan which will instil confidence in the business community in relation to the outlook for Ireland’s economy.”

“The commitment to a substantial venture capital fund to support R&D activity is particularly welcome and should result in Ireland greatly increasing its market share in global R&D,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

The Small Firms’ Association (SFA) also welcomed the plan. SFA director Patricia Callan, said her organisation was looking forward to engaging with Government and the other social partners to restructure the economy.

“It is imperative that we now focus, more clearly than ever before, on how to get more people into work, which means encouraging more start-ups of innovative small firms," she said.

"The recent past has clearly shown that encouraging enterprise, investment and reward for effort is essential to stimulate economic activity and employment.”