Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As this is a trade war that none of us want but that we have to respond to, we need to be clear about a few things. I do not believe anybody in this House is calling for an economy-wide wage subsidy scheme as I heard the Taoiseach and some others suggest in recent days. To do so would be disproportionate and unnecessary, so we should not waste our time on a bogus debate about jobs supports or no jobs supports. What we clearly need are targeted wage subsidy supports for the worst-affected sectors. The reality is that a number of firms are almost solely focused on exporting, particularly to the US, and they need our help. They are found in the alcohol, dairy, car components and medical devices sectors and are facing the double whammy of the weak dollar and tariffs and the impact has been immediate. It is very different for the pharmaceutical sector and we worry about it too but the impact for it will be over the medium to long term. We have yet to hear of the tariffs to be announced for that sector. For the sectors that are suffering now, the reality is that some of those are high margin while others are lower margin. Some have a high price elasticity of demand while others are much more immune to price changes. No one size fits all but we have to learn the lessons of the past. In particular, we must ensure that we allow firms the room to hold on to their staff while they try to divert to other markets.

We have a short-term work scheme that is not fit for purpose. It is unconscionable that we would ask workers to sign on the dole for the days they are not working, facing a cliff edge in terms of their wages when we have the firepower of the State to ensure that those wages are supported for a short period of time. We are not talking about anything long term. For a short period of time, the Government can ensure those workers around the country who are now worrying about how they will pay their mortgages or car loans or pay for the school tour for their child can be supported in the weeks and months to come while those other marketing supports and all the other supports from the State are put in place to help those firms redirect their trade to other countries.

I was a young trade union official in 2009 and 2010 and had to go into unionised workplaces to look at the finances of companies that were facing very difficult situations.

The memories are seared into my brain of the devastation on workers' faces when I had to talk to them about the dramatic drop in revenue, the possible pay cuts or, indeed, redundancies that were on the table. The damage of those job cuts and wage cuts on people's lives and skills was in this country for many years. It lasted for well over a decade. Compared with that awful time in Ireland when we went through recession and the level of our deficit was through the roof, our country is unrecognisable now. We must use the resources of the State to ensure that workers, particularly those in low- and middle-income jobs, are supported in the short to medium term so that their wages do not fall over a cliff edge and while their employers are trying to find other markets that they are supported. We do not know whether these tariffs will be short or long term. We do not know what Trump’s true intentions are but what we do know is that the impact on workers and their living conditions can be smoothed over by the State through temporary supports in the here and now if the Government so chooses.

Finally, I would ask that we move away from this all-or-nothing kind of diatribe that we have heard from certain members of the Government in recent days about an economy-wide wage subsidy scheme. Nobody is asking for that. We are asking for targeted supports for the sectors worst affected.

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