Jobs protection 'must be top budget priority'

Meath construction employers are set to urge the Government to make job protection and creation the number one priority in December's budget. The employers have been responding to a call from Construction Industry Federation (CIF) director-general Tom Parlon to consider and input their views into the CIF's pre-budget submission. Nationally, CIF has established a forum of senior employers from all sectors of the industry to formulate its pre-budget submission. As part of the process, the federation is engaging extensively with its members in the North East Branch (Louth, Meath and Monaghan) and 12 other regional branches, and has already met with external experts as part of its deliberations around identified issues. Outlining the CIF's approach, Mr Parlon the industry is acutely aware of the challenges facing the economy and the need for measures, no matter how difficult, to stabilise the public finances and return the banking system to some semblance of normality. "The priority, however, has to be maintaining existing jobs and creating new jobs, where possible, through targeted Government supports. Construction, as the economy's most labour-intensive sector, represents an obvious opportunity on the jobs front, particularly by prioritising the roll-out of badly needed labour intensive construction projects. Undoubtedly also, there are new opportunities in other sectors and these should be supported by Government. In particular, there are opportunities in renewable energies, waste treatments and the broader communications infrastructure," he said. "The CIF has already highlighted the pace and magnitude of job losses in construction and thisis echoed by our regional branches. The major concern, as set out in the CIF Mid-Year Review, relates to the roll-out of the capital programme but there are also missed opportunities in terms of tapping into the industry's ability to facilitate the development of a low carbon, sustainable and smart Irish economy." But, he said, it wasn't all about construction. Measures that promote investment and employment in other parts of the economy are also regarded as vital and the view from the CIF's regional branches is that Government must turn every stone to protect jobs. "Due to the ongoing job losses in the region, members of the north-east branch of the CIF have already emphasised the need to bring costs under control, particularly high energy costs, high transactional taxes and local authority charges." Tom Parlon went on: "Given the fragility of our public finances, alternative forms of funding will be needed to help close the existing gap between income and expenditure and to reduce or remove altogether charges that are now acting to dampen economic activity and reduce jobs. The Report of the Commission on Taxation will be particularly relevant in this regard and our committee will be carefully considering its recommendations, as it is already doing in relation to the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes." He added that balancing the various recommendations will not be easy but, if sight is lost of jobs, the benefits of savings elsewhere will be quickly eroded.