WHY CAN’T IRELAND FOLLOW THE BELGIUM GOVERMENTS EXAMPLE ?
While here in Ireland we wait for the Irish Government to present a stimulus package for the economy ,Governments around the World have already implemented such packages . The Belgium’s are the latest to come out and show some leadership and introduce a number of initiatives to boost there economy .
With a package of regulations amounting to EUR 842 the Flemish government is trying to support the economy and labour market against the financial crisis. EUR 300 million will go to SMEs as the small entrepreneurs find it increasingly difficult to obtain loans from the banks. A fund will be instituted to assist with subordinated loans granted to growing enterprises and to make it easier for innovative businesses to obtain risk capital. The crisis also threatens to thoroughly increase the number of restructurings and could cause the dismissal of quite a number of older employees. Therefore there will be an increase in the premium for enterprises recruiting workers older than fifty to help them in their search for a new job. These premiums will be increased by a maximum of EUR 500. As far as the ‘insurance to guarantee housing’ is concerned, there was reassuring news. This insurance will help ease the problems experienced by people who have to pay off their homes but have lost their income due to illness or unemployment. The Flemish government will also pump extra money into the economy. ‘In the short term we will spend EUR 45 million extra on noise screening, water control and innovation for enterprises’, Minister-president Peeters announced. ‘We will remain an investment government.’ The government will also try to get rid of the administrative delays for investment projects in order to prevent unnecessary slowdown of the project. A special taskforce will follow up all projects.
In Ireland we wait while our leaders are conspicuous by there silence .