One in six on dole are foreigners

FOREIGN nationals account for one in six of the people signing on the dole.

Of the 251,951 people on the live register in October, 44,600, or 17.7%, were not originally from Ireland, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The number of foreign nationals rose by 112% in the 12 months to October — only 21,035 were signing on last year. In one month the figure rose by 8.2%, according to the CSO.

The rate of yearly increase for Irish nationals was much less rapid at 70,937 or 52%.

Overall, the CSO found that the unadjusted live register increased by 94,502 or 60% in the year to October.

The mid-east of the country fared worst with a 72.1% increase, while Dublin had the smallest rise at 50.8%.

From September to October the number claiming the dole increased by 11,734 or 4.9% with men the greatest affected, a reflection of the continued downturn in the construction sector.

The largest increase in men signing on was the midlands where 7.5% more claimed the dole. The number of women signing on increased less sharply but there was still a 4.2% increase in the south-east.

Kerry had the largest month-on-month increase of claimants with 12.9% while Cork had just 1.9%.

Unemployment across Ireland now stands at 6.7%, the highest since 1998. Economists fear unemployment could be as high as 8.7% by October 2009 and that those on the live register could top 300,000.

Meanwhile, there was further bad news with the announcement of 138 redundancies at metal fabrication firm APW Galway Ltd. SIPTU said the firm has gone into liquidation and only statutory redundancy will be available to workers.

There are also job fears in Cork and Dublin after Dutch financial group Citco told employees it was cutting its staff numbers. More than 66 jobs could be lost as a result in Cork alone.