162,100 people still on Live Register

5 Nov 2004

While welcoming the latest reduction in the Live Register figures, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed still believes more has to be done. The latest figures show a monthly reduction of 1,600 in the seasonally adjusted bringing the total to 162,100.

‘Obviously this downward trend recorded in the Live Register over the past few months is very welcome’, says June Tinsley Policy Officer, INOU. ‘However, there have been sizable redundancies announced recently including Bewleys in Dublin with the loss of 234 jobs, Allergan in Westport Co. Mayo with the loss of 320 jobs and Irish Ferries losing 150 jobs. Such levels of redundancies are unfortunately a wake up call to shift the sense of complacency that Ireland’s economy is fully back on track. Unfortunately these job losses show that all sectors can be vulnerable as these jobs are varied in skill levels, in different industries and in different geographic areas.’

The INOU notes that Ireland has recently submitted its annual National Employment Action Plan to the EU Commission and calls for it to be adequately resourced to achieve full implementation. The NEAP covers the 10 guidelines of the European Employment Strategy, these include prevention and activation measures for the unemployed and inactive, increasing labour supply and addressing regional disparities.