Unions and Employers Join Forces for Jobs

23 Mar 2010

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) have joined forces to encourage Pension Fund investment in major civil engineering projects that could help us "build our way out of recession."

With no major new construction projects in the pipeline, Congress and the CIF have jointly requested Pension Fund Trustees to invest in new Construction Bonds.

According to Congress Official Fergus Whelan, the new Construction Bonds "could be used to finance such projects as the new university at Grange Gorman, new schools and hospitals, and perhaps even the O'Deveny Gardens renewal project that was abandoned last year.

"Most major projects - Dublin's conference centre, the new terminal at Dublin Airport and the AVIA stadium - are either completed or close to completion. This means the skilled designers and workers who have produced these world class projects will soon be on the dole and many will be forced to emigrate. We could see a serious depletion of our skills base, which would then hamper our capacity to recover."

Congress and the CIF are hosting a conference on this major initiative, on March 29 in Croke Park. 'Putting Pensions to Work' will hear from pension experts, fund mangers trustees, civil engineering companies and financial experts on how the joint initiative would work. An official from the Department of Finance will also outline Government thinking on the proposal.

(Full more details visit http://www.ictu.ie/press/diary/2010/03/29/putting-pensions-to-work/)

Mr Whelan - who sits on the Pensions Board - said Irish Pension funds hold some €70 billion in assets and much of it is invested overseas. Returns have been very poor in recent years. He said investment in the Construction Bonds "makes perfect sense, in these circumstances, especially when Pension Fund Trustees are looking to transfer out of volatile equities into suitable bonds which are more dependable in terms of certainty of return.

"Most countries in European have unveiled a stimulus package aimed at keeping their construction industries from this kind of economic meltdown. It is clear that the Irish government will not follow suit," he concluded.

 

 

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