Government inaction pushes Donegal jobless figures up

Gerry McMonagle

The latest figures released from the Central Statistics Office show that unemployment in Donegal is still rising with almost 21,000 unemployed, 2,638 more than was employed this time last year. That’s a further increase of 14% over this last 12 months for a county that has suffered greatly as a result of the economic crisis.
Letterkenny Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry McMonagle has sharply criticised the Government’s inaction on job creation for Donegal. “This Government cannot continue to sit on their hands in the face of rising unemployment,” he said. “Even now as the figures continue to rise there is still no evidence of any action plan from the government to tackle unemployment. It is estimated that up to 60,000 people emigrated in the last year. Emigration is not a solution. Young men are worst affected with one in three men under the age of 25 being out of work. The government needs to act and act fast to tackle soaring youth unemployment. If not it will have huge implications for the economy and for society in general far into the future”.  
McMonagle said that every one of the 20,996 who are currently unemployed has something to offer, as do those who were forced to emigrate in the past year.
“We in Sinn Féin have brought forward proposals to help address youth unemployment amongst them is a proposal to provide 5,000 free ECDL advanced places and a National Development Scheme to employ people directly on Public Works Projects with the potential of employing 2,000 people.
“In the end it is a situation of ‘Use them or Lose them’.”