FF, Your Ego Is Writing Cheques the Economy Can't Cash!

"Good news" today on the job front - you will remember that SR Technics shut last year, leaving over one thousand out of work, and a number of apprentices with unfinished qualifications. Well, the Government, in its eternal wisdom and continuing desire to somehow create the illusion of given a rat's-ass about the unemployed, has announced that the Air Corps will be taking on 30 apprentices to finish their training with the Defence Forces.

That's a relief for the young men and women who will now be able to gain their qualification, and given the very tough year the former SRT employees have had, they deserve some respite. But it also represents further muddle-headed thinking from the Government, and either a lack of understanding or lack of interest as to how you actually create jobs. By taking these apprentices on with the military, at the tax-payers expense, we are merely substituting wealth-creating private sector jobs with a further drain on the over-burdened exchequer. Will these apprentices have to serve with the Air Corps when they have completed their training? If so, then was there an open competition for the apprenticeships, or were the spots gifted to former SR Technic's employees to save face for the Government? If the new apprentices do not have to serve with the Air Corps, then where is the benefit for our military air wing in providing this training?

If only there was somewhere else for these apprentices to complete their course - it's a real pity Ireland doesn't have one of the world's largest airlines headquartered in Dublin! I'm sure if that was the case, the Government would have bent over backwards trying to support such an airline, helping it establish the facilities it needed, and creating a healthy business environment. Then that airline might be able to provide jobs for those in the aviation sector who find themselves unemployed.

No, it's better to just squander Ireland's tiny military budget on trying to patch over the holes in the Government's employment policies, by providing training for apprentices without the promise of a job at the end.

That's much better.

The Devil Makes Work for Idle Hands

Recent news from North of the border is worrying. Every day seems to bring a fresh attempted bombing, while last night witnessed a suspected arson attack on an Orange Lodge in Co. Tyrone. Disturbingly, we seem to be witnessing a slide back into violence, a slide that is being led entirely by dissident republicans.

While the thugs themselves would probably claim that their escalating campaign is part of a just crusade against British occupation, most people would dismiss their violence as nothing more than the activities of slow-witted bigots. The recent case where an independent republican councillor in Kilkeel in Co. Down, Martin Connolly, refused to condemn an attempted attack on his niece (a PSNI officer) and her baby daughter, would seem to support such a rash generalisation. After all, nothing says illogical hatred like tacitly supporting attacks on your relatives for spurious political reasons.

However, what seems to be regularly overlooked is how this violence is linked to the economic crisis gripping both North and South, and in particular, the after effects of the collapse of the property market. At the height of the boom, 1 in 4 men in the Republic were employed in building or building-related activities; unsurprisingly, these workers now make up a significant chunk of Ireland's 466,000 unemployed. So, we have a sector which employed a disproportionate number of young men, many of whom were unskilled or early school-leavers, who became used to inflated wages (and the self-esteem that comes with working) and now have nothing to do, and are getting by on social welfare.

Inevitably, a tiny fraction of those who now find themselves at a loose end are drawn to political violence, if only because it gives them a purpose, a code, a set of beliefs that they can hold onto and say "This is who I am, I matter". Witness the reluctance of Cllr. Connolly above to codemn the attack on his niece; condemnation would undermine one of the primary planks of his (warped) set of of beliefs. Throw in the ability to blame our economic woes on the Brits, and the "puppet" Free State government in Dublin, and you have the sort of heady cocktail that produced such lovable movements as the Nazis and the Falange.

If things are bad now, just wait and see what happens if David Cameron decides to trim public spending in the UK further, and focusses on Northern Ireland as a prime place to cut into the fat.
We can only hope that the vast majority of Northerners, both Catholic and Protestant, can face down the unthinking bloodlust of these so-called "republicans", and build the sort of community that they deserve after so many years of suffering.

The answer to all our economic woes...slavery!

At a time when 466,000 Irish people are on the dole, representing an unemployment rate of 13.7%, it's pretty obvious that a ingenious new approach to job creation is needed. Lefties might argue for massive state investment in jobs creation, at the risk of increasing public debt and taxation levels. Righties might demand tax cuts, easing the burden on employers while risking a reduction in public services. But I am proud to say in Ireland we have trod our own, wholly unique path.

In a world first, I am proud to say, our powers-that-be have managed to develop a system that combines both the worst of the left and the worst of the right, merging wasting of public finances and exploitative working practices. Step forward the Work Placement Programme...

You see, it's simple really. You're a young guy fresh out of college, on the dole, and hence not getting any work experience. Employers can't offer you a job because they can't afford to pay you. So what the state does is say "Hey, employers, why don't you give this guy a job, but don't pay him anything. Instead, we'll still pay him social welfare even though he is working. Everyone wins right? You, a young dude, get work experience, the employer gets a free worker and the state...well, the state is still paying for your dole money, but at least it can claim that the unemployment levels are dropping.

But wait, it gets better. Notice the stipulation in the above example that you are a young fella, and hence need to develop experience. I would think that we should be encouraging young people to develop experience in key areas of the economy, like R&D and pharma development, those sorts of things.

Instead, we have a scheme where the state is providing free labour to that vital sector of the economy, shoe retail:

Retail Sales Consultant (WPP2) Dublin 2.

Or, the equally strategic travel agency sector:

General Administrator (WPP2)

Note that some of these placements last for 9 months to a year - that's right, 9 months to a year of state subsidised workers for business, 9-12 months of someone working full-time, 5 days a week but still drawing the dole, and not paying any taxes.

And, anecdotally, I've even heard that employers are hiring those more mature, senior people who find themselves unemployed, instead of new graduates who are trying to develop some real-life skills - defeating the whole point of the scheme.

Surely, only a greedy capitalist free marketer would engage in such disgusting activity:

15 WPP Opportunities at Department of Justice

That's right, 15 opportunities for fully qualified solicitors to work, free, gratis, at the Department of Justice.

Surely, those champions of socialism, the Labour Party, will put an end to this:

Recruitment » The Labour Party

The Labour Party is currently recruiting two positions under the Fás Work Placement Programme (WPP).

Jesus wept...