The scale of the job losses reflected by the latest Live Register figures is “truly shocking”, Fine Gael claimed today.
The CSO figures show the number of unemployment claimants rose by a record 36,500 in a one month, to stand at 327,861 at the end of January which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent.
Fine Gael’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said: “To put it simply: Ireland is not working.”
Mr Varadkar said: “Viable businesses which need capital to get them through the recession are going to the wall. The banks are refusing to extend credit to businesses. In many cases they are withdrawing overdraft facilities.”
Labour’s enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose said: “We have been hearing anecdotal evidence that queues in our social welfare offices are now longer than at any time since the mid 80s, and today’s figure sadly bear that out in full,”
Mr Penrose said: “What is of even more concern is the fact that instead of mapping our way out of this economic morass, the Government has become fixated on addressing the exchequer figures.”
“Our perilous public finances are not the problem. They are a consequence of the problem which is that we are haemorrhaging jobs at the rate of 1,500 a day,” he said.