mr president commissioner i will deal with just one of your four key priorities stronger policies to promote job creation and demand for labour
according to this document recovery must be based on job-creating growth but since the economic crisis economic growth in europe has been uneven and weak
as an irish mep i am acutely aware of how we are being told to implement austerity measures and the real fear is that this will smother any opportunity for growth
so my question is will this agenda for new jobs and growth not apply to ireland or greece or indeed any country that is implementing these severe austerity measures
where will the growth come from and consequently where will the jobs come from
there are excellent ideas in this document i am not trying to minimise them
one crucial one is how we connect our investment and research and development and innovation to the production system itself
there is an absolute necessity to lock the two together
proposals to engage the social economy cooperatives mutual societies and micro-enterprises in a sustained effort to provide employment opportunities at local level are very timely and indeed i believe that mobilisation at local level and on a not-for-profit basis through mutual societies can be a driver for sustainable development
the promotion of entrepreneurship will allow citizens themselves to play a real part in our economic recovery
the matching of skills to jobs is crucial but i am very concerned on many fronts commissioner
last week i hosted a meeting in parliament on social inclusion and mental illness and a mild-mannered lady from austria said that politicians have to stop talking about jobs and growth nobody believes them i do not know about you commissioner but that shook me
i am not saying that that feeling is widespread but it is spreading and i think that is why our words here have to be translated into action
there is a real urgency about this and we need to start thinking outside the box
yes to green jobs digital jobs but do not forget local jobs and as i said the promotion of a not-for-profit ethos not as a replacement but as a counterbalance to the profit-driven model which right now threatens the euro and the stability of the union
