re. a new Foir Teoranta. Those with lobbying skills and the right political connections would benefit especially if they could promise to “create” a few jobs locally eg. by stopping a car dealership from going under or a well-got builder whose ambition exceeeded his ability to finance his “development” projects. This will have nothing to do with enhancing the value creation possibilities of international market oriented firms, soome of whom may employ more people abroad than here in Ireland.

I compare it to the Railway Procurement Agency which has emerged as a Government sponsored means of enhancing property development in Dublin. Where else but in Ireland would a Government build two new rail lines that do not interconnect? A real-throw back to the mid-1800s!

Nor will a Foir Teoranta Nua lead to the emergence of new internationally oriented entreprises that emerged during the 1980s eg. Kerry Foods, Ryanair, FEXCO.
In working our way out of this crisis, we need to change the language we use. My first offering is a quote from Laurence Crowley “Jobs are earned, not created”.
My second offering is to refer to Bill Kingston’s (TCD) piece on financing innovation reprinted in a UK government report. This led to BES in the UK and then here. The aims of BES were subverted when it was extended to property-backed investments.
I suggest that this is the fate that awaits Foir Teoranta Nua - funding businesses whose success depends solely on the wider economy doing well. Such resources would be better allocated to thinking how to achieve this and ensuring that measures are taken to reinforce the need for us to trade internationally to ensure a common prosperity for those who want to live and work here. Among such measures is implementing the Kenny Report recommendation on controlling the price of building land.

Independent News & Media will probably be first on the for assistance. The company is hopelessly insolvent having been dumped full of debt to pay dividends to the O’Reilly family.

http://www.village.ie/Magill_Articles/Magill_-_Business/Foir_Teo%3A_Good_Money_after_bad/

The Sunday Indo. report is typical PR spin but, perversely, that - and Jody Corcoran’s byline - gives the report a ring of authenticity as the product of a Government “kite-flying” exercise.

The report’s use of “Rooseveltian” and “New Deal” to grab the mantle of FDR is classic spin-doctoring. I don’t believe the New Deal included anything like the proposed bail-out for failing businesses but the Sunday Indo readers will want to believe that an FDR will save us. (Interestingly, FDR’s legacy includes the current US system of financial regulation which is now under such pressure, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and, most troubled of all, Fannie Mae.)

Even more troubling than the resurrection of Foir Teo. would be the report’s suggestion of “direct State involvement to help the struggling motor industry and construction sector”. We don’t have a “motor industry” apart from multinational component manufacturers like Kostal who are suffering badly but who won’t want “direct State involvement”. Is it possible the Government are planning to bail out car dealers!?

The Government is already busy trying to bail out the construction sector (see http://www.homechoice.ie ) but the spin-merchants are quick to say, “it is emphasised, not big developers”. That will be a fine line to draw!

The abolition of PRSI would help generate employment but there are obvious difficulties with limiting it to new employees only. On the other hand, the public finances cannot forego PRSI contributions entirely.

I believe it was reported that the Irish banks thought the margins on these loans were too small to be workable for them.