‘Tsunami’ of unemployment in city as more than 20 people a day sign on

MORE than 20 people a day joined the dole queue in Limerick city and county during January.

The worrying figures were released from the Central Statistics Office.

The Live Register figures show Limerick still remains well above national trends in terms of people losing their jobs.

Fine Gael’s Kieran O’Donnell, TD said: “All the while, the Government is still failing to implement the much-needed recommendations of the Mid-West Jobs Taskforce.”

The national increase in the Live Register over the last year was 33.9%, while the increase in Limerick city was 39.1%.

The hike in Limerick overall in the same period was even higher, at 39.8%.

The latest figures show 22,010 people are jobless in Limerick, with nearly three quarters, 15,617, in the city.

Mr O’Donnell said: “In fact, 635 people in Limerick joined the Live Register in January — that was over 20 people every day over the whole month.

“The Live Register in Limerick has now increased by 157% in the last two years, well above the national average of 140%, in the same period.

“This is a tsunami,” said the Limerick TD. “Moreover, it’s a tsunami that this Government seems determined to ignore. In the year since the announcement by Dell of the closure of their manufacturing facility in Raheen, and the resulting loss of thousands of indirect and direct jobs, there is no sign of any replacement industry nor any Government initiative to replace any of the jobs lost.

“We still do not seem any closer to having a single new IDA-backed job announced for Limerick, well over a year since the last IDA jobs announcement. We are being forgotten by the Government.

“Furthermore, the Tánaiste has confirmed yet again in the Dáil that she is not resourcing the recommendations of Denis Brosnan’s Mid-West Jobs Taskforce. Such a comprehensive set of recommendations for stimulating employment here should clearly have be acted upon long ago, including the provision of capital funding for Limerick Regeneration.”

Mr O’Donnell said Limerick must not become Ireland’s forgotten city.