54% of jobless have been without work over a year

THE scale of Ireland’s unemployment problem was set out in stark terms in a new international report detailing global concerns over rising joblessness.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report urged governments to tackle rising long-term unemployment and youth joblessness, which it said was “stubbornly high”.

It came as CSO figures confirmed there are 304,500 people unemployed in Ireland — the highest on record.