Over 70,000 jobless waiting for welfare

OVER 70,000 of the 413,000 people now registered as unemployed are experiencing delays with their social welfare applications, it emerged last night.

The most recent comprehensive list for every social welfare office in the country on May 30 put the overall figure at 70,362 unprocessed applicants nationwide.

Of those, 43,926 had applied for jobseekers’ allowance and 26,437 for jobseekers’ benefit.