Does Dublin really need 500 new tech jobs from Amazon?

Very true but as long as employers are treated like the immoral exploiter of the "wurker" and people who risk everything to set up their own business will have over half of everything they earn taken from them by the state there's little hope of a real indigenous SME sector ever taking the lead role in the governments employment strategy, lip service from various Ministers for Trade and enterprise not withstanding.
 
newtothis said:
I still can't quite believe that people are questioning one of the few examples we have of long-term forward planning - the creation of a tech cluster - and suggesting modifying it to counter the abysmal absence of planning in the housing sector.
Click to expand...

I agree completely.

Why drag things down to the lowest common denominator?
 

So, you're suggesting that the correct way to resolve the housing problem of cost and availability is to dampen demand by discouraging investment in a particular area? And the only reason someone suggesting that this might be a flawed approach is because they are not directly affected by problems in the housing market?

For sure, encourage investment in other locations, but as an addition to rather than alternative to the Dublin tech hub. As I said, this is already done, but the reality is that in an industry reliant on a highly skilled workforce, where those skills are in short supply, new investment will tend to cluster where the people are available, or are an attractive location for new immigrants (i.e. plenty of alternative employment opportunities).

To answer the original question "Does Dublin really need 500 new tech jobs from Amazon?", the answer is "yes, because it strengthens further the centre for such industry, and realistically the alternative locations for investments like this are almost certainly all abroad."
 
Last edited:
+1

I'm very surprised by this question too, maybe it's just because I work in IT. I'm living in the bubble

The very reason companies locate in Dublin, or other tech hubs, is because the employees are there. And the employees are there because the companies are there.

You might as well ask a london investment bank to locate in land's end.
 
Thousands of people in Galway and surrounding areas work in the medical device sector as it is the worlds second biggest hub for the manufacture of cardio-vascular stents. Should new investments in that sector be located in the Galway area where the center of excellence and expertise is or should it be located in Wexford which is very short of jobs?
 

Another good example - same with the Cork region and pharma. These centres did not happen by accident: they were planned and built up over many years and attempts to dilute them are surely counter-productive, both to the centres themselves and ultimately the alternative sites.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Are there any figures for the numbers of Irish people and non-nationals employed by Google and Facebook?
Click to expand...

What difference does this make ?

There is a nativist tone to some of these postings that I don't like.

If my neighbour pays taxes, obeys the law and doesn't secretly believe in his heart that women have no role in public life, or that homosexuals should be executed, then does it matter if he was born in Wexford or Wroclaw.
 
Delboy said:
Of course...but how many people in Ireland can?
So of no use to Lepers kids in that scenario
Click to expand...

So, there it is, given the challenge and ability to work Irish people will learn those languages. We have always been a nation to adapt where work is involved. Did you not hear that Mayo fan entering the GAA ground in Ruislip on Sunday? (don't know how to insert the appropriate smilie here!)

Earlier in this thread somebody referred to government departments relocating to outside of Dublin. Some of my neighbours used to work in the Central Statistics Office and sold their houses in Dublin at a generous price akin to a Lotto win. They bought better but cheaper houses in Cork. They spend all of five minutes each way commute every day, have fresh air, experience a better quality of life and their worst nightmare is driving through Dublin whenever they have to.

I must say I am disappointed with some of the content of particular posters on this subject probably due to their smugness (a disease that has begun to grow again in Ireland). Perhaps "smugness" is too strong a word? I would hate to be arriving at their door asking for a donation to a 3rd world charity.
 
There are no non-nationals living in Ireland. There are plenty of foreign national, also known as non-Irish Nationals, but no non-nationals (think of Tom Hanks in an Airport Terminal).
 
I have to say I have reservations about re-locating government departments to a foreign (Peoples) Republic.
 


Hello Mr. Burgess,

Any job that results in a positive contribution to the economy is welcome. Each person employed results in more tax being paid into the State, more cash being circulated around the economy, perhaps a reduction on the amount the State pays out in Social Welfare etc.

The housing problem is not of Amazon's making and if anything, the risk that a lack of suitable and affordable housing might some day be the cause of an employer not creating more jobs in Ireland (but creating them in another country instead), is just another important reason to sort out the housing shortage immediately.

The shortage of skilled and experienced IT staff in Ireland will sort itself out, through a mix of more people electing to study and graduate from IT related disciplines, along with immigration.

You ask how the ordinary citizen will benefit, well they benefit by the positive contribution made to the economy by each job (in terms of tax payments). This income paid into the State helps fund more capital expenditure, improved services, paydown of the national debt, tax breaks etc.

Furthermore, the ordinary citizen benefits indirectly by each job created because whoever takes up that job puts money into the economy also - whether it's to buy a sandwich for lunch each day or whatever else they spend their earnings on. All of this expenditure again pays into the economy, but also helps create or maintain other employment (such as the person making the sandwiches etc).

While 500 unskilled jobs in Ballymun might be welcome, they cannot be considered "more welcome" than the jobs announced by Amazon (for example). All jobs should be considered equally welcome. If anything, the fact that the jobs in Amazon are likely to be higher paying jobs than "unskilled jobs" is a positive factor and only supports the arguement for more training, so those currently only able to qualify as "unskilled" might enhance their chances of securing better paid employment in the future, after appropraite training.
 
Well said, Mr Earl. the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. We cannot argue about the truth, well . . . except for a few exceptions here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register