Longford/ Westmeath TD Willie Penrose has described the latest Live Register figures, as “shocking beyond belief”.
“There are now 200,000 more on the Live Register than at the time of the General Election in May 2007. No government in the history of the State has ever presided over such a rate of increase in the level of unemployment,” Deputy Penrose said this week.
“Unemployment is now cutting a swathe of social destruction through the country. Unless action is taken, long term unemployment will leave a devastating legacy in communities from which it will take decades to recover.”
Deputy Penrose also highlighted the contribution unemployment is making to the country’s economic problems.
“With every job lost costing the Exchequer €20,000 through extra social welfare spending and tax forgone, the additional cost of the 165,000 added to the Live Register over the past 12 months amounts to €3.3bn.
“It is obvious that we will never get the Exchequer situation under control, until we get a grip on the unemployment situation. But the extraordinary thing is that the Government attaches so little priority to either job creation or job retention, he said.
“We need to fight for every single job. We need to consider rapidly expanding the Community Employment schemes. We need to provide education and re-training for those who have lost their jobs. Doing nothing on the unemployment situation is no longer an option.”
