Unemployment continues to rise in Tallaght

SINN FÉIN Councillor Seán Crowe has said unemployment in Tallaght is spiralling out of control as new figures show that only Limerick City, Cork City and Waterford have higher numbers of unemployed in the 26 Counties.

Councillor Crowe said all the talk of emerging from recession means nothing unless the real issue of unemployment is addressed.

“The Government must bring forward a credible jobs creation strategy. Unemployment in Tallaght is out of control with 10,662 people now signing on, an increase of 240 in the past month alone. If this rate of growth continues there will be 12,000 people unemployed in Tallaght by the end of the year. This cannot go unchallenged.

“All the talk of emerging from recession will mean nothing to ordinary people unless the ongoing jobs crisis is tackled.

“It certainly means nothing to the 10,662 people that sign on the dole in Tallaght Social Welfare office or the 444,900 unemployed state wide.

“Sinn Féin has put forward more than 80 proposals to retain and create jobs including a €300 million jobs retention fund to subsidise small and medium sized enterprises and a youth jobs fund to create 20,000 jobs for the young unemployed. We have called for investment in infrastructure, the fast tracking of business start-ups and the creation of a sales Ireland strategy.

“We have shown how these proposals could be funded but the Government has opted to cut public spending rather than invest in job creation and job retention initiatives. This has led to further job losses, pay cuts and a drop in consumer confidence. It has doubly punished those who have lost their jobs as social welfare rates have also been cut.

“It is time for a change of direction but this Government continues to reward, employ and support with taxpayers’ hard-earned money those who created the crisis in our economy. The jobless queues are getting longer and the sad reality is that there is no real hope of a job recovery for most of them.”