 Speaking after the release of the Live Register for June which showed the number of unemployed people in Cavan and Monaghan jump by 698, Sinn Féin Senator Kathryn Reilly has said that nearly one quarter of the entire national growth of people on the Live Register can be accounted for in Cavan and Monaghan. Senator Reilly said: “The number of those unemployed in Cavan and Monaghan has jumped by 698 people in the space of one month. Just under half of these- 308- are under 25. Nearly one quarter of the entire national growth of people on the Live Register can be accounted for in Cavan and Monaghan. “The unemployment rates coupled with the drop in retail sales paint a daunting picture for the economy and for economic recovery. “The domestic economy is in a debt trap. The policy of austerity is pushing down expenditure which is shrinking the economy and causing major unemployment. This in turn is reducing the states capacity to repay debt which means that subsequent measures have to be more severe. We are in a perpetual the downward spiral as can be seen from our unemployment and retail sales figures. “This is a crisis of epic proportions that continues to get worse. 40.8% of those on the live register are long term unemployed. We are creeping closer to a situation where a majority of the unemployed will have been out of work for a long period, with no job offers. Long-term unemployment is corrosive of individual and community wellbeing and it needs to be targeted with serious programmes of reskilling and retraining. “While the JobsBridge Initiative is welcome, like any initiative aimed at helping the unemployed, it is only piecemeal compared to the extent of the crisis that we are facing. Based on the increased unemployment figures, the new 5,000 intern places will be gone by August. It is a pathetic sticking plaster to a problem that demands a real jobs strategy along with major surgery of a targeted fiscal stimulus. “The honeymoon is over for this Government. We need real solutions to the unemployment epidemic and to our financial crisis. That requires a radical rethink of the direction of policy and a stern evaluation of the EU/IMF bailout deal.” ENDS |
Thursday, 30 June 2011 15:49