Joe McHugh TD has said that Sinn Féin’s persistent negativity about the work of the IDA in Donegal does not help efforts to attract investment to the county.
Deputy McHugh
And he has said that a positive approach by political parties would be more useful to the Donegal workforce during this time of economic crisis.
Responding to criticism of the IDA by Donegal Sinn Féin today, Deputy McHugh said Sinn Féin’s statement about the IDA’s work in Donegal comes just 15 days after Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton TD & the IDA announced that the early stage technology company KeyedIn Solutions will establish its new European Software Research and Development Centre at CoLab on the LYIT campus in Letterkenny, initially creating 20 new jobs, with plans for significant expansion in the short-term.
“Sinn Féin’s criticism of the IDA also comes just a short few weeks after the IDA’s biggest client company in Donegal, Pramerica Systems Ltd, started hiring 100 new additional employees at its premises in Letterkenny.
“I have expressed concern in the past about the contribution of job creation agencies in Donegal. However, it must be pointed out that IDA client companies created 274 new jobs in Donegal in 2011 and 245 new jobs in Donegal in 2010; whereas IDA client companies in Donegal created 81 new jobs in 2009 and just 41 new jobs in 2008.
“Businesses in Donegal are struggling to survive at present, and accessing credit is a key challenge. Today, as small-to-medium enterprises prepare for the Christmas season, what the Irish economy requires is money flowing through it. The Government is doing its utmost to address the banking crisis and to improve credit flow.
“The Government launched its Credit Guarantee Scheme last week; this will provide an additional €150m in lending per year for small Irish businesses over the next three years. Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank are the participating lenders in this scheme, and applications should be made to the participating banks in the normal way. The MicroFinance Fund has been in operation since October 1st 2012: it provides loans of up to €25,000 for viable businesses with less than 10 employees. Information on this scheme is available from Enterprise Boards.
“This swipe by Sinn Féin at the IDA today may be a tactic to take attention away from the fundamental contradiction at the heart of Sinn Féin’s bogus new jobs strategy. Sinn Féin proposes to create new jobs nationally on the strength of a €1.534bn loan from the European Investment Bank, and the Party’s policy document also commits to stopping the funding of bondholders. The EU has said that European Investment Bank funds will not be available to countries that default on bondholders.
“Sinn Féin’s bogus strategy also commits to investing €300m in new schools in the Republic of Ireland, even though the Party is closing schools in Northern Ireland, where it holds the Education Ministry.
“I encourage Sinn Féin to stop playing politics with people’s futures and to stop undermining the sincerity of public debate by publishing bogus policy documents during a time of real crisis. I also encourage Donegal Sinn Féin to be more positive about our county instead of trying to score cynical points.”
Tags: