Planning for our Future Recovery
17 February 2009
The current economic crisis is having a devastating impact on families and communities. Every day brings more news of financial scandals, dodgy deals or major job losses. This situation will continue until we develop a credible Recovery Plan to give confidence back to communities, to families, to investors and employers.
This plan must have key principles at its core:
- Fairness - those on the lowest incomes should not be expected to pay for the mistakes of our financial elites
- Accountability - those that cheated and abused our financial system should pay a price (up to and including prison). They should not be waved off with a golden handshake and a bulging pension package
- Maximise Employment - we must do everything in our power to keep people off the dole and restore our economic competitiveness. Recent experience teaches us the disastrous social consequences of mass unemployment.
- Imagination - we must use our ingenuity and creativity to dig ourselves out of this mess. In lieu of layoffs one company has offered three years unpaid leave to any of their workers that wanted to take a sabbatical. Why can't we apply this across the board in the public service?
- Sustainability - the issue of climate change hasn't gone away. However, this economic crisis provides us with an opportunity to tackle our reliance on imported oil and gas. By investing now in wind and wave energy, and by developing a programme of insulation for our older homes, we can create jobs and help sustain our long term development
- Community - investment in communities is most important in times of crisis. We must continue the regeneration of Ballymun and get the regeneration plans off the ground across Dublin in places such as O'Devaney Gardens and St. Michael's House.
As a politician I'm conscious of not using the current crisis to score easy political points. The situation is far too dire for that. Fortunately, on Dublin City Council there is far more co-operation across party lines than is obvious in Dáil Éireann. I'll continue to work with my colleagues in all parties for the good of my constituents and all of the residents of Dublin. However, I will not stop fighting against bad decisions such as the recent cuts in the numbers of special needs teachers.
