A STATE aid package of €1 billion is urgently needed to save 40,000 jobs in the indigenous export sector, the Irish Export Association (IEA) has warned.

The Government’s “dithering” over the introduction of an export stimulus package is of major concern, and is causing unnecessary job losses in the indigenous export sector, according to IEA chief executive John Whelan.

A support package of approximately €1 billion is needed to support “market retention measures” that exporters must take over the next two years, and would save approximately 40,000 jobs, the association said in a statement yesterday. “There is no point tinkering with small-scale measures in the current climate,” Mr Whelan said. “We are in a full-blown recession and we need a fully funded package if we are to prevent major damage to our indigenous export sector.”

He pointed out that, last week, the EU approved crisis State aid schemes for countries such as the UK, Germany, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Austria and Portugal.

However, Ireland has not responded to the deepening economic crisis with any “enterprise/export stimulus measures”, he noted.

“As a consequence, we are now falling further back in the international competitiveness race, while the Government dithers on the issue,” he said.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan must urgently clear a support package with the EU and roll it out to exporters through promotional agencies, he added.

The Government’s “full armoury of financial tools” – including the stimulus package – must be used in combination with any proposed new budgetary measures to prevent further “export and associated job losses”, said the association.