A rise of almost 300 people on the live register in Westmeath in March has been described as “extremely worrying “ by local Fine Gael TD, Deputy James Bannon this week (April 6 ).
“We must trade our way out of recession, not as the Government are proposing by slashing, taxing and borrowing,” he said.
Between February and March, live register figures in Westmeath, as released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO ), rose by 3.4 per cent, from 8620 to 8916, an increase of 296.
In the year from March 2008 to March 2009 this figure is even more emphatic, nearly doubling from 4865 to 8916, an increase of 4051 or 83.3 per cent.
“It is heartbreaking to see one company after another closing in Westmeath and across the Midlands, with the knock-on toll on workers and their families,” said Deputy Bannon.
“The current Government have ruined our competitiveness, increased costs and taxes and priced us out of the international market,” he said, getting predictably party political.
“At 11 per cent, unemployment in Ireland is the third highest in Europe. We have the biggest budget deficit in the euro-zone and one of the largest in the world.
“Every two minutes, one person is losing his or her job and in the last five months alone, 100,000 workers have become unemployed.
“In Government in the 1990s Fine Gael closed the last Fianna Fail deficit and balanced the Budget for the first time in a generation.
“By rebuilding our tax system from the top down and implementing essential upgrading of our public sector, we can do so again.
“Unemployment is the nightmare result of political failure, with the human beings left to suffer the repercussions.
“In common with the rest of the Midlands, Westmeath has a wealth of resources, education and ability.
“What the county does not have is Government support or strong back-up from its Government representatives. This is what we need and must have.”
