A total of 1,500 people applied for three clerical jobs at Westmeath County Council in recent weeks, according to Fianna Fail's Transport spokesperson Robert Troy.
All 1,500 applicants will sit an aptitude test to whittle down numbers before formal interviews take place.
“The fact that 1,500 people applied for three jobs is a clear indication that in the Midlands we don’t have the job opportunities, we don’t the economic recovery that the government and government TDs keep talking about.
“We need a dedicated task force. We have highly qualified, motivated people who are willing to work. The only thing that’s missing is the political will from government to support job creation in the midlands.”
Mr Troy told his local radio station Midlands 103 that there is a lack of political will to support job creation in the area.
CSO figures revealed last week that the number of people unemployed in the Midlands dropped by 15 percent in the last year, but the region still has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country.