Thousands in Cork forced to wait for dole

THOUSANDS of people who have lost their jobs are waiting weeks for vital social welfare payments and training places, shocking new figures reveal.

Details of the crisis facing the unemployed in Cork emerged against the background of national figures from the Central Statistics Office which show that the numbers on the Live Register rose sharply again this month.

The headline figure for April is 384,448 — an increase of just over 13,000 from March and almost double the figure for the same month last year.