Pat Breen addresses the Dáil on the Jobs Initiative

Pat Breen  made a Dáil speech on the recently launched Jobs Initiative

The full speech  is here

I believe that this is the first time in the curent Dáil that deputy Breen has spoken on a national  economic  matter. Indeed, the only other speech I can find is one on the situation in North Africa.

Pat Breen abroad

His jobs speech is peppered with typical Breen observations on the local tourism industry and how Shannon Airport can attract new business. Here are some of the points he made;

• He 'calls' on Aer Lingus to grow business in Shannon
• 'The German and French markets are there for the taking'
• He 'spoke' to Clare  hotelier who can wants to bring business through Shannon
• He 'calls' on Aer Lingus and Ryanir to deliver routes to Shannon
• He recently 'had' the Korean ambassador in Clare
•  He 'welcomes' the allocation of state money for Clare roads and schools
• He 'commends' Minister Noonan on the initiative.

There is a pattern to all these points. They are all local. Nothing wrong with that but  they unequivocally demonstrate Pat concentrates on local politics (and foreign affairs) and does not particpate in debates on national matters or propose legislative amendments etc.  Pat seems to be  happy to seek local media attention and maybe  a story or  headline rather  than getting stuck into the national economic travails.

Airport Timetables - Clare TDs incl P.Breen are specialists in these.

I noted previously Clare TDs obsession with airport timetables and routes. The above speech once again proves that Clare TDs feel the need to impart learned comments on how the Shannon can develop. We of course have several state bodies that do this job such as Shannon Development, Tourism Ireland etc and the benefit of TDs spending time on these matters is questionable.


 To explain Pat's Breen speech visually here's a word cloud.

additional aer airlines airport allocation axed boost charges cheaper clare commend councillor country county europe flights government hope include initiative jobs lingus mainland markets members michael million minister mr numbers oireachtas operate people proposals region result routes shannon spoke tax tourism tourists travel uk unfortunately visit week welcome white year

It is hard to see the national media paying atttention to Breen's speeches or government legislation being amended as a result of the above. We still lack a Clare TD to prioritise national matters.