Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The queue outside a social welfare office in Dublin Photocall Ireland

Column Cutting wages won't fix the jobs crisis. We need a new approach.

There are 26 applicants for every job in Ireland – so it’s time to stop treating this as an economic problem to solve and instead see it as a social crisis, writes Patrick Nulty.

ON FRIDAY, I met a man in Huntstown in Dublin 15 working on a CE scheme. He had previously worked in construction and had just said goodbye to his son – a carpenter – who had emigrated to Australia. Both these men of different generations were ready, willing and able to work but our strategy for tackling unemployment had failed them.

According to quarterly Eurostat figures, there are 26 applicants for every job in Ireland, a stark reminder of the real employment crisis in Ireland. It is a crisis that can only be addressed with real economic solutions.

Behind the monthly live register figures there are thousands of personal stories to be told and talented people who are being failed by our economy.

Active intervention by the state is now essential to create and sustain employment. And yet, the debate about job creation and employment is hampered by a series of misunderstandings. It is simply not the case that reducing wages further, in the public of private sector, will facilitate job creation.

Understanding unemployment is not just about numbers and figures

Since 2008 the deprivation rate for those at work has increased sharply from 6.6 per cent to 12.5 per cent  in 2010. This causes hardship for these individuals and their families, hardship that cannot be understood simply by referring to numbers and figures

This increase in deprivation amongst people with jobs and indeed amongst the unemployed is stunting our growth. Rising deprivation puts additional strain and costs on social services, reduces productivity, consumer demand and negatively impacts on tax returns. If we are serious about creating jobs we must reject calls to resist calls to lower wages.

Equally, assumptions that exports alone will be our saviour are also off the mark. It is true that exports are vital to economic recovery. However, the reality is that this section of the economy is already performing very strongly.

In contrast domestic demand in our economy is in serious difficulty. High unemployment, austerity budgets, cuts and widespread fear and anxiety have all led to a sharp decline in domestic consumer spending. The domestic economy must recover if we are to experience sustainable growth. An examination of our GDP growth rates from 1994 -2007 show that expansion came largely from domestic demand rather than external demand (exports). The government must implement policies which encourage rather than dampen consumer confidence.

We need to be competitive – but that doesn’t necessarily mean low wages

It is true that as a small open economy with a healthy export sector we need to be highly competitive. However competiveness and low wages do not go hand in hand. A company is competitive when it utilises highly skilled, well paid employees and modern technology. Competiveness relies on good productivity which increases as skills levels and indeed wages increase.

There needs to be a recognition that the current approach to the jobs crisis is not working, and work on a new model must begin.
There must be investment in high quality training and education to ensure a sufficient supply of skills in emerging growth areas of the economy. ·

Domestic demand and consumer confidence must be restored. Cuts and taxes that hit people on low and middle incomes undermine consumer confidence and must be stopped.

Structural unemployment, which occurs when a section of the workforce don’t have the skills necessary to take up new jobs as they emerge, must be addressed. Unemployed people who have construction industry related skills must be re-trained to take up jobs in expanding sectors such as IT.

These measures can be funded by shutting down the tax reliefs on non residential that cost the Irish exchequer 450 million each year. Also the 4.7 billion left in our National Pension Reserve fund should be used over the next four years to rollout a world class broadband network and national system of childcare thus creating jobs and supporting economic development.

By encouraging job creation and economic growth we will make better progress towards meeting our international obligation to reduce our budget deficit.

Patrick Nulty is a TD for Dublin West

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
45 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Yun Wyn
    Favourite Yun Wyn
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 1:20 PM

    Very true especially when they decide who and what to censor. Joe rogan has a podcast with Twitter exec and pushes them on the issue

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Russell
    Favourite Richard Russell
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 4:32 PM

    The campaign has started to shut down free speech and citizen journalism We can have free speech as long as it is nuj free speech only the voice of the selected few will be heard

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Patrick Newell
    Favourite Michael Patrick Newell
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 3:24 PM

    And you really think our own government haven’t used misinformation or bots for their own use esp during elections…..i agree social media needs dealing with, but when you have countries where people have little faith or trust in their own governments, its hard then to trust them in turn to do what’s right when it comes to social media

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute AOL
    Favourite AOL
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 7:06 PM

    Never mind social media. Not a true journalist left in any country. Every article is a copy and paste job. We should be holding all media to account

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Sheahan
    Favourite Gary Sheahan
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 3:52 PM

    Well, and I know this won’t be popular – but I feel well equipped to discern (most) of what goes online and practise a healthy level of cynicism and, on that basis, I say leave them at it. Take and keep the jobs they bring and generally promote ourselves as the safe and primary destination for FDI in the EU.

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dáibh
    Favourite Dáibh
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 2:29 PM

    Misinformation is one of the biggest scourges in the world. Especially the last five years with Trump and Brexit. It needs to be dealt with it and the government should take the lead on that for the exact reasons laid out in this article.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bob Rock
    Favourite Bob Rock
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 3:04 PM

    @Dáibh: Couldn’t agree more. It’s not been taken seriously enough by many governments around the world in my opinion. the only ones seemingly taking it seriously are countries like Russia and China and they’re using it with devastating results.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The quite man
    Favourite The quite man
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 5:57 PM

    @Bob Rock: yes we should start Defunding RTE the state broadcaster is a prime example of an institution which pushes a certain narrative. I can’t remember the last time the news, prime time or any radio interviewer actually pushed any minister or official for the truth. Now that the state has bailed out the broadcaster and Denis O Brian owns a large chunk of local radio stations I think it’s imperative that citizen journalists keep asking the important questions such as asking the new minister for children his stance on lowering the age of consent for children, or should under 16,s be allowed to remove parts of their bodies without parents knowing.

    17
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The quite man
    Favourite The quite man
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 6:03 PM
    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony Humphreys
    Favourite Tony Humphreys
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 6:57 PM

    @Dáibh: I believe Brexit and Trump happened because of the media and social medias attempts to scilence views that do not followed a center left agenda. When views are scilenced and not listed too, or simply dismissed as an ist, the scilenced vote.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The quite man
    Favourite The quite man
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 7:14 PM

    @Tony Humphreys: it’s the tip toe of totalitarianism

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mikhail Ramendik
    Favourite Mikhail Ramendik
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 6:08 PM

    While a certain amount of regulation might be necessary, I think this article actually showcases the dangers of the idea – because it repeatedly mentions Libya and the author is Paul Tweed.

    Paul Tweed is known to dislike Libya’s pre-2011 government because of its links to the PIRA, one of the sides of the well-known civil conflict in Belfast where he is based. https://www.irishnews.com/news/2015/10/21/news/belfast-lawyer-urges-britain-to-back-ira-libya-victims-301570/

    For all I know, somehow he never seems to talk about the government behind the other, equally vicious side of that civil conflict.

    In 2011, the government of Libya was overthrown by unprovoked invasion of a coalition of Western countries. The result of this action was massive suffering in Libya, including outright slave markets on the streets.

    Thankfully, Ireland did not directly participate in that deplorable invasion.

    Libya is in the middle of a civil war now between the GNA and the LNA. Should Ireland break its neutrality now by telling social networks which side of that civil war should have a voice and which one should not?

    I would hazard a guess that Mr. Tweed supports the GNA. I might be wrong here. But in any event, judicial participation, by censorship, in Libya’s civil war is exactly what Ireland should NOT be doing.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute James Gorman
    Favourite James Gorman
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 6:30 PM

    We need to ban anon SM accounts

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Van-Standen
    Favourite David Van-Standen
    Report
    Jul 10th 2020, 7:24 PM

    @James Gorman: in the context of individual users, that choose to not use their actual name on social media, there is zero real anonymity.

    The manipulation of public opinion or the dissemination of propaganda by private groups for profit, or government agencies to push an ideological or political agenda, is carried out not with anonymous users but non-existent ones, that are farmed on a massive scale using computer networks of virtual machines and or thousands of mobile phones on they use software to simultaneously publish, share or like whatever message the client wants spread in realtime.

    That said, the answer is not the type of blanket censorship that the author or others are suggesting, which it basically the same logic as cutting down forests to prevent the activities of arsonists.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom Keenan
    Favourite Tom Keenan
    Report
    Jul 11th 2020, 8:06 PM

    The people who run the world are worried about ordinary people finding out about how things really are on the internet hence the calls for censorship. The internet must become like the mainstream media,keep people ignorant so they can be manipulated.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.