The near muted reaction to the latest publication of the Live Register figures is indicative of a Government that appears not to have any idea how to deal with the unemployment crisis, said Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony this week.
With 12,272 people now on the Live Register in Mayo, as opposed to 6,576 this time last year, Deputy O’Mahony said the 86 per cent increase is an appalling indictment of the job creation policy employed by the current Government.
“The publication of those figures last week were met with near silence by the Government parties. That indicates one of two things in my view: that they don’t care or they don’t know how to react and do something about the predicament that the country is in.
“Let’s not forget that we have a Government representative from Mayo sitting at the Cabinet with real responsibility in this area but we are seeing very little in the way of tangible reward. Fine Gael has suggested ways of getting people back to work such as investing in the school building programme and ensuring that the banks, which the taxpayer has helped bail out, provide support to the small and medium enterprises.
“However, the Government don’t want to take on board any advice and they just seem content to struggle from crisis to crisis and use the global downturn as their get out card while the dog in the street knows that their disastrous economic policies is the main reason we’re in the state we’re in,” he said.
