Rabbitte: Jobless figure very, very serious

Ireland’s growth forecast for this year and next will be considerably higher than the EU average providing one of the few positive points for the eurozone, but the recovery is proving to be a jobless one, posing severe problems for the Government.

Minister Pat Rabbitte acknowledged this saying, unemployment was now the biggest challenge facing the Government and that the jobless figure of more than 14% was “very, very serious”.

“We are hitting all the targets, except for unemployment, which remains unconsciously high, and nobody can deny otherwise. It is very difficult when the economies you are trading into are in recession”, he said.