ERIC BYRNE TD working with Cllr Chris Bond & Cllr Pamela Kearns
Cherryfield, Perrystown, Wainsfort & Fortfield AFTER THE BAILOUT The Government can correctly claim to have pulled the country back from the brink. But there is still a way to go. Virtually all the indicators show that economic recovery has started. However unless people experience economic recovery in their own lives, they will remain sceptical. The fact that there are more than 60,000 additional people at work over 2013 is an improvement on a scale that has taken all commentators by surprise. At the peak of the boom the unemployment rate never fell much below 5%. This means that we still have more than 200,000 unemployed who are capable and actively looking for work. The biggest category is unemployed building workers followed by workers who lost their jobs in retail. Whereas we are never going back to 16% of the workforce engaged in construction, the fact is that we can comfortably double the number at work in building. Big public projects such as the National Children’s Hospital, the Grangegorman DIT Project and some 40 new primary schools as well as the need for affordable family housing will employ about 15,000 building workers. There is ironically a capacity issue in the building industry caused by banks being reluctant to fund building companies that got into trouble during the boom. Both Government and NAMA are attempting to come up with workable solutions. The Government is about to launch its Action Plan for Jobs having designated 2014 the year for jobs. The constant challenge to deliver better public services can only be met after we put more people back to work. A good start was made in 2013 – the challenge in 2014 is to sustain that improvement in employment.
Cherryfield, Perrystown, Wainsfort and Fortfield are to be included in the new “Templeogue Terenure” area in the County Council. This large area also includes Greenhills, Templeogue, Knocklyon and goes as far as Firhouse in the foothills of the mountains. My County Council colleagues in Templeogue Terenure are Pamela Kearns and Chris Bond. Pamela is from Corrib Road in Terenure and lives with her husband and two sons in Templeogue. Chris is a first time councillor based in Firhouse. I will be working closely with Pamela and Chris in 2014 and if you have any council queries feel free to contact us.
Working with Eric Byrne TD
Cllr. Chris Bond
Cllr. Pamela Kearns
MASSIVE BOOST OF 58,000 JOBS IN 2013 Creating jobs is the best route to growth and the fight against poverty. To date:
Jobs Increases in 2013
■ 58,000 jobs were created in 2013.
60,000
■ 1,200 on average are being created per week. 48,000
■ Over €500 million pro-jobs measures planned for 2014. ■ There has been a 6% increase in the number of skilled positions available year on year. ■ Over 1,250 new jobs due to JobsPlus alone. ■ 20,200 education, training, work and apprentice places ringfenced for young people.
New Jobs Created
■ Unemployment has reduced from 15.1% in 2012 to 12.3% in January 2014.
36,000 24,000
12,000
■ €2.5m invested in 2014 in funding young entrepeneurs e.g. Micro Finance Ireland.
Eric Byrne TD Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Phone: 01 618 3223 Email: eric.byrne@oir.ie Web: www.ericbyrne.ie
0 2011
2012
2013
facebook.com/EricByrneTD @EricByrneTD 0612
CREATING LOCAL JOBS ENCOURAGING BUSINESS START UPS We want to encourage and help people who are long-term unemployed to start their own businesses. That is why we are introducing the ‘Start Your Own Business’ scheme. The new scheme offers an exemption from income tax, up to a maximum of €40,000 per annum, for two years to anyone starting a business and who has been unemployed for at least 15 months previous. This initiative will free up the cash flow for early-stage businesses and remove the fear of incurring an income tax liability which can be a huge deterrent from taking the plunge for many people with a business idea. To further improve cash flow, the annual VAT cash receipts-based threshold for small businesses is being increased from €1.25m to €2m from 1st May 2014. These are just two of the 25 pro-business and pro-jobs measures contained in Budget 2014 designed to help stimulate further economic growth and employment opportunities.
HOME RENOVATION INITIATIVE Tax relief of up to 13.5% will be available for families who invest in their homes in 2014 and 2015. The Home Renovation Initiative is designed to incentivise renovations and increase demand for small construction jobs. The relief will be given as a tax credit over two years on spending of €5,000 up to a maximum of €30,000. The work must take place in your principal private residence. The scheme will only apply to registered builders with tax clearance certificates, in order to help tackle the shadow economy. Work covered under the scheme includes extensions, renovations, window fitting, plumbing, tiling and plastering. The scheme will be active from October 2013.
EXTRA FUNDING FOR HOME HEATING GRANTS A further €30m has been secured under the Government’s Stimulus Package increasing investment in the Better Energy and Warmer Home energy efficiency schemes to a total of €57m. These schemes fund energy efficiency improvements by householders and local authorities, as well as upgrades in the homes of the elderly and vulnerable, making homes more comfortable, healthier and more cost effective to run. The schemes also benefit the economy by creating jobs in the construction sector. 32,000 homes are expected to benefit from upgrades under these schemes in 2014, bringing the total number of homes to benefit to 290,000 since they were launched in 2011. If you are a homeowner in receipt of fuel allowance, contact 1800 250 204 or warmerhomes@seai.ie for further details. If you are a homeowner, residing in a house built prior to 2006, contact 1850 927 000 or info@betterenergyhomes.ie for further details.
YOUR LOCAL LABOUR TEAM
Working with
Eric Byrne TD
CLLR CHRIS BOND
Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Phone: 086 1917159 Email: cbond@sdublincoco.ie
Phone: 01 618 3223 Email: eric.byrne@oir.ie Web: www.ericbyrne.ie facebook.com/ EricByrneTD @EricByrneTD
CLLR PAMELA KEARNS Phone: 087 7756718 Email: pkearns@sdublincoco.ie