ONE IN every three men aged between 21 and 24 is now drawing the dole in the Republic, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil.

As the Opposition challenged Taoiseach Brian Cowenon the increase in unemployment, Mr Gilmore asked: "For how much longer does he think we can sustain that either economically or socially?

“When will we see a serious effort by the Government to get a jobs strategy in place, get the real economy moving again, and get people back to work?”

Mr Gilmore claimed that since the budget the Government parties had been basking in the praise they had received from some of the right-wing economists embedded with them, while there was no action on the jobs front.

Mr Cowen said he refuted the claim that no stimulus was being provided by the Government. “A total of €6.5 billion is being provided in our capital programme this year. With regard to road works, €1.5 billion will be spent on road construction this year.”

Heckled by the Opposition, Mr Cowen said: “I am giving the facts. If the deputies do not want to hear them, that is their problem.”

He said more than €2 billion would be invested this year in higher education. “That is the sort of investment we are putting in at a time when we have a record high deficit of 11 per cent to contend with, and we have maintained a 5 per cent capital investment programme.

“That work is maintaining 80,000 jobs in the economy on a range of infrastructure projects, including school building. The school-building programme will employ 7,500 people this year.’’

Mr Cowen said 70,000 people were in casual or part-time employment and were on the register for perhaps two days a week, as well as being employed for three days.

A total of 279,000 people were on the Live Register five days per week, while 20,000 provided credited contributions and did not obtain a payment.

He said some 75,000 people, of whom 22,000 were on supplementary welfare allowance, had either been suspended or were having their claims processed at the moment.

Mr Cowen said that there was a great deal of movement on and off the register.

He acknowledged, he added, an unemployment rate of 12.7 per cent, similar to 1995 when Labour’s Ruairi Quinn was minister for finance.

Accusing Mr Cowen of “abracadabra economics’’, the Labour leader said that the Taoiseach seemed to think he could wish away the number of people out of work because of the numbers of days that they were on the Live Register.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kennysaid that these were fretful times for families. When the Taoiseach came to power in 2008, the number on the Live Register was 202,000.

“A total of 60,000 young people under the age of 25 years have left the country. If the valve of emigration was not open, the real figure for unemployment would be more than 500,000.’’

Those young people, he added, were in Australia, Canada, America and Britain doing jobs for which they were completely over-qualified because the Government had failed to put any plan or strategy in place.

Mr Cowen insisted that Mr Kenny’s accounts of despair were not where the people were at. He said they recognised that the country was being led in the right direction by taking the necessary action.

Driving forward with enterprise, exports and employment was the only way forward, but the stabilisation of the public finances was an absolute prerequisite for that.