Until Tuesday last, the Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson was regarded as possibly the greatest storyteller of all time. This position has now been superseded by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his followers, following the announced new integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment aimed at generating up to 300,000 jobs.
This five year fairytale aims to increase the number of overseas visitors to the country to eight million and attract an extra 780 foreign investment projects through the IDA. The Taoiseach was joined in this story telling session by the Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe, Minister for Tourism, Thurles born Mary Hanafin, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher.
Water Storage Tank
This new jobs announcement is nothing short of a carefully choreographed PR stunt to dissuade the millions intent on shortly taking to the streets and while 150,000 people may be fooled into thinking that our future problems are suddenly solved, 850,000 still remain resolute. This latest announcement demonstrates further, contempt for the Irish population, lack of realistic imagination and non existent leadership, from those currently charged with with running this State. This government are comedians and 300,000 jobs has to be their biggest joke to-date.
If this so called plan could not be achieved in the last two years, how in God’s name are they going to going to achieve it now. The trains and boats and planes are filling daily with our young and not so young, each forced immigrant educated at the expense of Irish taxpayers, leaving this country of birth to offer their skills to our market competition.
One piece of the fairytale however may be true, Brazil, China, India, Russia, Japan and the Gulf States appear to be the preferred destination for next year’s St Patrick’s Day junkets, under the guise of selling indigenous exports into new high-growth target markets.
OK, so I am using harsh language here, but let us together examine the facts using a calculator.
The plan is to create 300,000 jobs over five years. This means 60,000 jobs per year or 1,153.8 jobs every week. This would be the realistic equivalent of a new Dell Computer manufacturing plant being built every fortnight or one Intel plant being built every week. Where is Dell now and jobs in tourism are totally dependant on strong recovery in the world’s economy, latter presently stagnant or slow at very best and the signs are that it will remain so for at least another decade.
So what should we be doing realistically to get back to work and aim at profitability?
Unlike political parties we do not criticize without offering strong alternative solutions and here is just one.
Firstly we must examine recent and recurring problems. e.g. flooding, water shortages, water charges, the massive unemployment caused by the decline in the construction sector, rise in cost of Insurance, and The National Lottery, just to name six.
These six problems if dealt with together in a coherent plan could create and save us billions immediately and far into Ireland’s future.
We have the necessary ingredients available locally folks so here is the plan.
Note: Ireland has thousands of Residential Apartment buildings, Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, Residential Care Facilities, Nursing Homes, Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Public and Private Swimming Pools and Gymnasiums, Shopping Centres, Sport facilities, Golf Courses, Commercial Offices, Industrial Premises, Agricultural and Horticultural Sectors.
Install in each of the above named buildings a Roof Run – Off Water Collection System for use in bathing, topping up heating systems and daily toilet flushing.
Problems immediately resolved would include, less use and destruction of quality drinking water, remove the need for future water charges, considerably reduce the flooding due to this storage and management of water, create huge employment in construction, however short term and reduce the huge drag on our national purse strings.
Ah! but you say from whence cometh the start up money? Two areas, National Lottery funds should be temporarily diverted to this project and then of course there is the €577m which is expected to be spent as part of the controversial plans to suck 350 million litres of water per day from Lough Derg to supply Dublin with an improved water service.
This funding would be spent grant aiding and purchasing Irish manufactured cement, Irish manufactured Pre-stressed Concrete Water Storage Reservoirs and Irish manufactured Potable Plastic Water Tanks. Irish JCB’s, cement trucks from Kellys of Fantane and their unemployed drivers would again surface buying fuel. Irish building and plumbing firms would again start hiring help. Insurance companies would pay out less protection money to flood victims. The costs of water, presently crippling schools, public buildings and small business, would be greatly reduced. Ireland’s greenness would again become evident. National Lottery funds would benefit all, instead of political favourites who vote for ruling governments.
The Green Party would appear to be partnered with Fianna Fail for the common good, rather than for a power trip and Hans Christian Anderson would resume his role as the number one storyteller in Europe.
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