Unemployment 'could blight families for years'

The impact of high unemployment rates could blight the futures of families for decades to come, a campaigner warned today.

Last week’s Live Register figures for April showed 384,448 or 11.4% of the workforce were claiming jobless benefits but the ESRI claimed this level could hit 17% next year.

Social justice campaigner Sr Stanislaus Kennedy said the Government needed a clear strategy to stop households slipping into poverty which could take generations to recover from.

“If one in six of us is unemployed, then very few families in this country will be unaffected,” Sr Stan said.

“Those affects are not limited to trying to support oneself or one’s family on a very limited income – they include loss of pride, family stress, impacts on children’s school life and education and, because we are not planning properly to deal with this crisis, potentially the loss of life chances in the future for many of today’s children.

Sr Stan was speaking at the Feile Na Bealtaine political symposium at the Blasket Centre in Dunquin, Co Kerry.

She added: “For some families, the consequences of poverty now will reverberate for generations.

“Failure to act now, to plan properly to address poverty, means we will be continuing to talk about the dreadful toll it takes on Ireland well into the 21st Century.”

More bad news about the economy is expected tomorrow when the Exchequer Returns for the first four months of the year are published by the Department of Finance.

Sr Stan called for a coherent jobs plan to be worked out by the Government, business and industry groups, unions, churches and the community sector.

Today’s unemployed must not become tomorrow’s long-term unemployed, she warned.

The Government had a national action plan to combat consistent poverty by 2016 but this now appears to be shelved, said the nun.

“Even before the death of the Celtic Tiger, Ireland had a real problem with poverty and 11% of our children were living in consistent poverty,” Sr Stan said.

“Consistent poverty means dire poverty, when people don’t have enough money to feed their families and keep warm.

“While we have recognised that our economy is in crisis, we appear to be overlooking that our economy is our people and we face a protracted social crisis if we fail to act now.”

The six-day Feile na Bealtaine, now in its 15th year, was also addressed by Government senator Dan Boyle and the Ambassador of Lesotho in Ireland, Mannete Ramaili.