The Job Seekers Union is a voluntary organisation established by unemployed people to help themselves survive the unemployment pandemic that is sweeping across Ireland. The primary aim of The Job Seekers Union is to get people back to work.
There are currently over 400,000 people out of work in Ireland. In contrast there are very few vacancies. The reality for most jobless people is they are not going to find work in the current economic environment unless something significant changes.
The Job Seekers Union calls upon the Government to take the following steps:
1. Stimulate the Flow of Money in the Irish Economy:
a. Establish a National Enterprise Fund to create a dynamic lending environment by purchasing a substantial portion of bona fide loans made by the Banks to private sector businesses. This would ensure a constant source of working capital flowing to the Banks for onward lending to business. The effect would be to stimulate business activity and create a positive employment environment. Since this is based on bona fide loans which are repayable, it would not be a cost to the tax payer.
b. Establish a Domestic Debt Consolidation Agency to support re-structuring of personal debt thereby reducing domestic repayments and increasing disposable income. This doesn’t increase the amount of debt in the economy, but merely re-structures it to take advantage of lower interest rates.
c. Establish National Debt Re-Structuring Fund to purchase a substantial proportion of re-structuring loans made by banks to domestic families to ensure Banks have the funding to available to consolidate domestic debt. Since this is based on bona fide loans which are repayable it would not be a cost to the tax payer.
d. Introduce/enforce legislation to ensure business to business debts are paid in a reasonable time (60 days); unpaid debts over a certain period (90 days) to incur penalty interest payable to creditor.
2. Establish a Patriotic Savings Fund and encourage individuals and corporations at home and overseas to invest in Ireland
3. Promote Consumer Spending
a. Introduce positive measures to stimulate domestic spending:
i. Reduce VAT rate to 17.5% to level the price playing field across the Island of Ireland
ii. Aggressively market the concept of ‘patriotic consumerism’ to encourage spending in the Domestic market and on Irish produce
b. Introduce legislation to allow private tenants to renegotiate leases and take advantage of reduced rent levels. This would increase the disposable income of tenant households.
c. Encourage Public Sector to help stimulate economic activity through patriotic purchasing
d. Introduce a Home Improvement Grant scheme to stimulate the building sector
e. Establish a National Scrappage Assistance scheme for capital, white and brown goods to stimulate economic activity through replacement with environmentally friendly products
4. Protect existing jobs and promote job retention:
a. Abolish 60% employer redundancy rebate which is currently compensating/encouraging employers to make staff redundant
b. Introduce legislation to allow for wage re-structuring. In this way employers and employees could agree to replace a proportion of ‘Fixed cost wages’ with an equivalent productivity payment or equity participation. Support this with a Wage Re-structuring Grant that rewards employers and employees for improvements in productivity performance.
5. Promote Job Creation:
a. Support private sector organisations wanting to increase their work force by grant assisting salaries/wages for first 12 months for created new jobs.
b. Give income tax relief for bona fide expenditure on domestic services such as cleaning, gardening, child minding and so on
c. Reduce the Back-to-Work qualifying period 6 months on Job Seekers Benefit/Allowance. Continue benefit support for a Back to Work period of 24 months to allow new self employed people to establish themselves.
d. Introduce legislation to allow business tenants to renegotiate leases and take advantage of reducing rent levels and thereby reduce overall cost.
6. Reduce minimum wage to €7.00 to improve Irish competitiveness and encourage job retention/creation
7. Replace standard Job Seekers Benefit/Allowance with a Tiered Payment Plan that encourages participation in ‘Good For The Country Activities’ such as self employment, community employment schemes, training, and voluntary work.
a. Start basic payment at €100 per week; bring it up to €200 for participation in ‘Good For The Country Activities’.
8. Strengthen the concept of Local Community:
a. Promote local community activities; encourage people to get involved:
i. Garda Reserve/Neighbourhood Watch
ii. Sports and Social Clubs
iii. Neighbourliness
9. Establish of a new Community Employment Board:
a. Set up Job Clubs/Networks in every town across the country
b. Identify local community based projects capable of getting people back to work locally
c. Set up local Community Co-operatives to undertake the local projects identified above and offer local employment to people
d. Pay people working on the Community Co-operative schemes 50% premium above standard Job Seekers benefits
10. Increase Capital Spending to stimulate economic activity:
a. Accelerate school building programme, improvements in transport infrastructure, improvements to communications infrastructure
b. Divide public tenders into smaller tranches to allow Irish domestic businesses to win them
c. Encourage Bartering as a non-cash way of increasing economic activity
11. Encourage innovation
a. Establish Enterprise Centres across the Country to offer free start-up advice, serviced office and workshop facilities.
b. Relax legislation, bureaucracy and red tape to allow people to start home industries such as baking, back-yarding, jam making, sandwich preparation, sewing, car maintenance and so on.
c. Encourage Banks to provide zero interest Start-Up Loans to individuals to set up small businesses including self-employment and help contribute to the investment cost of premises, equipment, transport, furniture and other tools. Include these loans within the gambit of the National Enterprise Fund above.
12. Encourage re-training, higher level education:
a. Introduce a Re-Training/Education Allowance as an additional payment to encourage Job Seekers to pursue training. Introduce a once-off Qualification Payment for successful completion of a training programme.
b. Encourage participation in Sales and Customer Service Training to promote overall economic activity and stimulate a service led recovery.
13. Establish a National Volunteer Scheme and pay additional benefits to encourage participation in do-good activities at the national and community level
14. Sell Ireland overseas:
a. Develop an ‘Irish’ brand identity
b. Tidy up the Country, promote Ireland as the Clean and Green part of Europe
c. Introduce Grants to encourage investment in tourism
d. Target the Irish Diaspora
15. Encourage inwards tourism
a. Abolish Airport Taxes for non-residents
b. Reduce employers PRSI on inward tourism and domestic tourism activities
c. Reduce employers PRSI on export oriented activities
16. Balance Economic Activity Across the Regions
17. Promote the concept of the ‘Island of Ireland’ and encourage cross border activities
18. Stimulate Green Economy
a. Establish ‘Green Grant’ scheme to encourage and support, and give a fiscal advantage to all environment friendly and energy efficient activities
b. Introduce heavy penalties for pollution, litter and environmental damage
19. Invest in and Promote Public Transport; encourage private enterprise to provide public transport
a. Establish a National Transport Board to consolidate all public transport activity
b. Establish a Dublin Transport Authority to consolidate all public transport in Dublin
c. Encourage Car Free areas in our cities and major towns
20. Extend recycling activities to encourage economic activity and support the National Scrappage Scheme
Copyright © The Job Seekers Union, 2009
