Jobs figures point to second recession

An incompetent Dublin government has allowed a second wave of jobs losses to further undermine the 26-County economy, with unemployment in the state reaching a 16-year high, opposition leaders have said.

The number of people seeking employment assistance on the Live Register rose by 8,500 to 452,500 last month, signalling a surprise jump in the unemployment rate to 13.7 per cent.

An unusually large number of those made unemployed were professionals, leading Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton to warn of a possible second recession.

Labour’s enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose said the rising numbers of people seeking employment assistance was a clear indication that solving the jobs crisis had dropped to the bottom of the government’s agenda.

“They have a strategy to rescue the banks; they have a strategy to introduce savage cutbacks in crucial public services, they even have a strategy to lease vacant houses from bankrupt developers, but they have no strategy to tackle unemployment,” Mr Penrose said.

Minister for Social Protection Eamon O Cuiv insisted job creation was the Government’s top priority.

Mr O Cuiv said the Live Register had risen every July without exception over the last 20 years “due to seasonal factors”. He predicted the increase in the numbers on the register during the summer would be reversed in the autumn.

Sinn Fein’s Arthur Morgan said the labour market was in free-fall and the prognosis for economic recovery was dire.

“This Government is redundant. Unemployment has reached its highest peak and there is no concrete job creation strategy on the horizon,” Mr Morgan said.

Mr Morgan will lead protest against the latest live register figures at a rally outside the Dublin parliament tomorrow.

Sinn Fein members plan to highlight the Dublin government’s “record-breaking dole numbers, record-breaking borrowing, highest paid politicians in Europe and longest absence from parliament” with a demonstration at the Kildare Street entrance to Leinster House tomorrow.

Last week students highlighted the plight of graduates forced to emigrate for work with a demonstration at the ‘Jeanie Johnston’ famine ship in Dublin.

Members of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) staged the rally on Tuesday morning to highlight soaring levels of unemployment among college leavers.

Gary Redmond, USI president, said Ireland was losing the “future drivers of the smart economy” with thousands of valuable graduates having left Irish shores.

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