Responding to the Live Register Figures for July 2011 which showed that in line with increasing Live Register figures nationally, the numbers in Cavan and Monaghan increased by 411 people, Sinn Féin Senator Kathryn Reilly said that despite the Government being given a mandate for action, 1,015 people signed on in Cavan and Monaghan since the general election.

Senator Reilly said:

“The people of this State cannot wait any longer for Government intervention. Since the election 1,015 people in Cavan and Monaghan have signed on, not counting the countless who have emigrated. The Government were not given a mandate for inaction, they were given a mandate to create jobs and to create a State in which people could live and work.

“411 more people signed on in Cavan and Monaghan in July than in June. This staggering monthly spike equates to 24 people signing on every working day in July.

“The minimum wage rate, the employer PRSI rate or the social welfare rates are not the reasons there are so few jobs; the collapse in domestic consumer purchasing power is a far greater culprit. By slashing peoples incomes, successive Governments are compounding the collapse and, in turn, the job crisis. We can see it in figures published by the Central Bank on the domestic economy which showed a contraction in GNP of 4.3%.

“This Government seems to be following the depressing trend of the last. To present the only choices in the upcoming Budget as being which vulnerable group to target is unacceptable. Other options are available to deal with the economic crisis and they need to be effective and just.

“While a package of tools must be employed to get people back to work, central to this must be state investment in job creation. We simply cannot afford to have almost half a million people on the dole, and we cannot afford the social consequences of attempting to make it affordable.

“We must invest to save and create jobs, to assist small and medium sized businesses, to help hard pressed families and boost consumer spending. Sinn Féin propose a jobs stimulus in the order of €2.9 billion over the next 12 months, with further injections over the following 3 years.

“If we are serious about becoming a knowledge based economy then it is essential that the current starvation of funds in investment, both in people and businesses, is brought to an end.”