Unemployment crisis needs 'same resolve' FF gave peace process

Tackling Ireland's unemployment crisis requires the kind of focus and commitment Fianna Fáil gave to the peace process, the party's ardfheis has heard.

Fianna Fáil jobs and enterprise spokesman Dara Calleary told delegates that "creating employment is the kind of political and societal challenge in 2013 that bringing peace to our island was in 1993".

And he told delegates “the Minister for Jobs should do what it says on the tin – be the Minister for Jobs”, and not share the responsibility with two other Ministers.

He also condemned banks for calling in loans “in some cases at short notice” and pulling down viable businesses and the jobs in them.

The Mayo TD said however "what we don't have in 2013 is somebody like Albert Reynolds who mobilised the full forces of government behind that challenge. Albert took action too. That's what we need today to assist the 426,000 people seeking full-time employment."

Hitting out at the Government “complete inability” to tackle the jobs crisis, Mr Calleary said “the unemployment rate in March 2011 was 14.2 per cent and in March 2013 it was 14 per cent”.

He said much of the change in the live resister since then “is because of emigration. Once again we are exporting our best and brightest to foreign shores” and this was not a lifestyle choice for people because they were forced to go”.

And he hit out at the “silos” in government, a reference to departments not communicating with each other. He said “a real Department of Jobs would deal with all job-related issues, not have been shared between three different departments as is currently the case.”

He told delegates "the Minister for Jobs should do what it says on the tin – be the Minister for Jobs", but the responsibility was currently shared between Richard Bruton, Ruairi Quinn and Joan Burton.

“There is little effective co-ordination or co-operation between them and meanwhile our unemployed will remain unemployed”.

He also claimed entrepreneurs had been abandoned by the Government and the banks. Highlighting the issue of legacy debt, he said there were many businesses that took out loans to make investments and create jobs and transform parts of the country that had been abandoned.

However because of the economic situation they could not pay portions of these loans. Their core businesses remained viable but their legacy loans had been called in, many at short notice and the businesses were being pulled down with the loss of all their jobs.

“There are some high profile cases but the reality is that this is happening in every part of the country and we have to shout stop because if we don’t we risk losing a generation of entrepreneurs in this country.”