The main opposition parties today criticised the cuts announced in the capital investment plan by the Government, with Fianna Fáil claiming they will result in 9,000 job losses next year.
The party’s public expenditure spokesman Seán Fleming said the plan contained no reference to job creation and would leave Ireland with one of the lowest levels of capital investment in the European Union.
“The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Plan 2012-2016 announced today makes no reference to job creation and completely ignores the most important issue facing the economy and society,” Mr Fleming said.
“These cutbacks represent 9,000 less jobs next year alone. The Government will continue with these job losses on a permanent basis and will add further job losses in each of the following years,” he said.
Former Fianna Fáil cabinet minister and current spokesman on jobs Willie O’Dea said job creation had been “marginalised” in the revised capital programme.
“If they were really serious about creating jobs, they would have cut less productive spending, including the billions in waste that they talked about during the election campaign and shifted the money saved into the capital budget. Instead, labour intensive projects have been shelved,” Mr O’Dea said.
Describing the announcement as a “slap in the face” for the construction workers “who have waited with bated breath” for the Government to deliver on their election promise of 100,000 jobs, Fianna Fáil spokesman on transport Timmy Dooley said the cuts were a “a blatant reversal” of pre-existing promises .
“The cuts to investment in the Metro North, Dart Underground and the Western Rail Corridor, together with no further road construction funding, demonstrates the complete failure on the Government’s part to fully understand the benefits of investment in our transport network,” Mr Dooley said.
Sinn Féin's Peadar Tóibín warned Ireland will lose its competitiveness in attracting investment as a result of the reduction in funding.
“Over the next 10 to 15 years what we’re seeing is a debt for competitiveness swap,” he said.
“Investment would actually create a competitive environment to do business both in the mid-east region and also the north-west region where we see a lot of infrastructure projects being cut.
“Those competitive projects will be lost.
“As a result, it will be more difficult to do business in these areas and more difficult to entice businesses to those areas,” he added.
The Green Party accused the Government of making “the wrong call” in “abandoning” what it described as “critical” public transport projects.
Saying the country could not afford “not to start them now,” party leader Eamon Ryan said the Government had got it “badly wrong”.
He said the Government’s decisions will hinder recovery by undermining ompetitiveness and removing a stimulus for sustainable growth.
Traffic in Dublin will go to gridlock “as soon as our recovery comes,” Mr Ryan said. He added that the M50 will not be able to cope with the inevitable consequence that will result.
“How can we attract new business to the country when our basic services don’t work. The lack of joined up thinking will see us build a National Children’s Hospital
with no proper public transport link”
“What we are seeing is an old fashioned shift back to prioritising spending on the road network. This strategy will not work for anyone. We need a proper public transport system to free up the existing road network for those who have to use their car.”
