Live Register highest in 12 months

2 Sep 2005

The INOU is concerned that the August live register figures show the highest unadjusted figure since last August, and the fact that these figures do not include recent redundancy announcements.

‘There has been an upward trend in the live register figures in recent months, and if one factors in such horrendous factory closures as Hospira in Co. Donegal, the numbers on the dole can only go higher’, said Eric Conroy, General Secretary INOU. ‘The State must not assume that unemployment is not a top priority issue at present’, he added.

The INOU has been consistently warning of the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ireland and the regional imbalance in the jobless figures. Donegal has always been an unemployment blackspot, and the loss of over 700 jobs in the county in recent days, (including 560 in Hospira) will only seriously exacerbate the position.

‘We in the INOU call for the setting-up of a pro-active task force for South Donegal, to find replacement jobs for the Hospira workers’, said Mr. Conroy. ‘This should involve all the interested local parties, and actively pursue new economic activity and new jobs for the newly unemployed of that region’.

With the continuing decline in manufacturing, both traditional and modern, the Government must address the long-term future of manufacturing in Ireland. If this downward pressure continues, we could end up with little or no manufacturing base in the country, with most jobs provided by the service-type industries (many with low pay). ‘Is this the future for our supposed successful economy, posed Mr. Conroy.